The “Billion Dollar Mistake”—null content—has plagued C# developers since version 1.0. NullReferenceException is the most common runtime error. C# 8.0 introduces Nullable Reference Types (NRT), a feature that moves null checking from runtime to compile time. This is not just a syntax change; it’s a fundamental shift in how we write safety-critical C# code. How […]
Read more →Tag: Azure
2019 Developer Ecosystem: Year in Review
2019 was a big year for developers. Here’s my summary of the most important releases and trends. .NET .NET Core 3.0 brought desktop support C# 8.0 with nullable reference types Entity Framework Core 3.0 (with breaking changes) Blazor Server released JavaScript React Hooks changed how we write components TypeScript continued to dominate Vue 3.0 approaching […]
Read more →Azure Synapse Analytics: Introduction to the Unified Platform
Azure Synapse Analytics (announced at Ignite 2019) is the evolution of Azure SQL Data Warehouse. It’s now a unified analytics platform combining Big Data and Data Warehousing. What’s New On-demand queries: Query data lake files without loading Unified workspace: Data prep, SQL, Spark, and pipelines Synapse Studio: Web-based unified experience Power BI integration: Direct connectivity […]
Read more →Microsoft Ignite 2019: The Biggest Azure Announcements
Microsoft Ignite 2019 just wrapped up in Orlando, and there’s a lot to unpack. Here are the Azure announcements that matter most for developers. Azure Arc The headline announcement: Azure Arc extends Azure management to any infrastructure. Run Azure services on-premises, at the edge, or in other clouds. This is huge for hybrid scenarios. Azure […]
Read more →Azure DevOps Service Connections and Managed Identities
Service connections let Azure DevOps deploy to Azure resources. Getting the security right is important. Here’s how to set them up properly. Creating a Service Connection Project Settings → Service connections → New → Azure Resource Manager Automatic: Creates service principal for you Manual: Use existing service principal Managed Identity: For self-hosted agents Best Practices […]
Read more →Azure Cosmos DB Change Feed: Real-Time Data Processing
Cosmos DB Change Feed lets you react to data changes in real-time. It’s perfect for materializing views, triggering workflows, or syncing to other systems. What is Change Feed? A persistent, ordered log of changes to your container. Sorted by modification time within each partition. With Azure Functions Use Cases Real-time analytics aggregation Syncing to search […]
Read more →