Developer Dame

As some of you may know I recently won myself a ticket to Prog .Net tutorials. AWESOME! Anyway I thought I’d break down the sessions that I’m going to and you can let me know if there’s anything you would like to ask or be brought up in these sessions and I’ll do my best do get your questions and issues resolved!  (comment here or email me)
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Hi all, it’s been a while…okay ages! I’ve got a whole backlog of posts that I want to do but this one came up recently and I thought I’d share it. So you know the great R# shortcut Alt + insert that allows you to quickly insert a class or interface etc. Well recently, in conversation, the question was raised “Why can’t we have a custom file template for things like test classes in the quick access menu?”…….well you can! Hooray!

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In light of another post I have done “Adding File Templates to the R# Quick Access Menu” I decided to make available some of the templates I have for others to use. Now I can’t just hand them over and expect you to know how to import them so here’s a guide.

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This post is just over a month late (Sorry ) but I have been busy starting a new job and getting my coursework done so I hope you will understand. Anyway last month I co-presented my first presentation to members of the London Dot Net User Group at an Open mic night. The presentation was titled “Pair programming: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” slide show found here. Read more…

Some of you whom have read my blog before will be aware that as well as working full time as a software developer I am studying for a BSc(Hons) in my spare time. Recently I’ve been finding it really difficult to push myself forward through the final years so I’ve decided to write down the advice I’ve given to other people in the past with the hope of taking it in myself . Read more…

So today was the first time I lead the team retrospective. It was a little milestone for me as I’ve not really lead anything like that before. It took quite extensive planning (I believe if your going to do something you should do it properly and be well prepared), this involved me reading The Pragmatic Programmer – Agile Retrospective. It’s a really good read and very inspiring. After reading through the activities I decided what I felt we needed to get out of this retrospective and chose to do some data gathering activities.
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It’s been a while since I last posted but that’s because I’ve been really busy completing year 4 of my degree (only 2 more to go!) and starting a new job! Anyway I finally got around to posting some of the new stuff I’ve been learning and for this instalment I’ve created a video cast on the basics of getting MEF to integrate with Castle Windsor.

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As some of you may know I have recently changed jobs. For me moving jobs is a difficult decision to make as I imagine it is for many others. Changing employment is a life altering decision and it’s not something that should be taken lightly. To be certain the decision I make is the right one I go through a process that I hope will help others if they are thinking about moving on.

There are a number of questions you need to ask yourself throughout this process and I have compiled a list of those that I go through: Read more…

I recently went to DDD8 and had a fantastic time. It has to be one of my more favoured tech events for a number of reasons; I get to chat with some very  passionate industry people whom are almost always inspiring in some way. I catch up with friends I haven’t seen in a while and hear what they have been up to, this year I got to catch up with @robcthegeek and @johnnonolan from my RCP sessions which was great. There’s also the insight into new technologies and the explanation from some very knowledgeable developers of some technologies I’ve really wanted to have a look at but haven’t yet had the chance. Read more…

Whilst on my exciting snowy vacation in the French Alps I had lots of time to reflect on the past year. I managed to achieve a number of things on my hit list last year. So this year I have decided to create another goals list. This way it’s much easier to focus on what you want to achieve by the end of the year and makes it far more measurable.

I sat down to think about the things I wanted to achieve this year and I produced a rather extensive list, more like a five year plan! So I’ve managed to whittle the list down to five goals Read more…