NDepend

The Open-Close principle (OCP) is the O in the well known SOLID acronym. Bertrand Meyer is generally credited for having originated the term open/closed principle, which appeared in his 1988...

The Liskov substitution principle is the L in the well known SOLID acronym. The original principle definition is: Methods that use references to base classes must be able to use...

The two pillars of code maintainability are automatic testing and clean code structure. Testing is used to regularly challenge code correctness and detect regression early. Testing can be easily assessed...

Inheritance is one of the pillar of OOP. However, in the real world, most classes are not designed to be properly inheritable. Properly designing a class to be inheritable is...

One could think that developing an extension for a two-decades+ product as mature as Visual Studio is headache-less. Not really. Visual Studio is a big big beast used by millions...

NDepend version 2019.2.1 has just been released. This new version proposes a simplified menu for the NDepend Visual Studio extension. Before going further I underline that we didn’t get rid...

.NET Core 3.0 will be RTM soon and it supports WPF and Winforms APIs. In my last post I’ve been exploring .NET Core 3.0 new APIs by comparing compiled bits...

.NET Core 3.0 is representing a major step for the .NET community. It is interesting to analyze what’s new in the API directly from the compiled bits. In this post...

This morning I stumbled on a complex test to write. The need was to create and show a custom Form (written with Windows Form) that relies on the System.ComponentModel.BackgroundWorker to do...

Service-oriented architecture (SOA) has been with us for a long time. The term first appeared in 1998, and since then it’s grown in popularity. It’s also branched into several variants,...

The first post I wrote for the NDepend blog was about C# 8.0 features. That post inspired a sequel, followed by the series’ final chapter. Those posts dealt with the...

What’s the difference between a REST API and a RESTful one? Is there a difference? This sounds like the kind of academic question that belongs on Reddit. But then you...

What is coupling in programming? Is it something we want to avoid when we design and write code? If so, why? And more importantly, how? Let’s take a look at...

A while back we discussed the unique career path architects have to travel. We wrote that article for developers who want to advance their careers and aren’t sure which way...

It’s been about a month since my last research post, and I’ve been musing about the next topic.  What should it be?  Well, I’ve decided.  Since I love nothing more...

If you’re a .NET developer, then it’s overwhelmingly likely that you’re a Visual Studio user. There are alternatives to it, sure. But the product from the Redmond giant is the...

Domain-driven design, or DDD, is a software design methodology aimed at producing better software. Engineers achieve this by working closely with domain experts during the continuous design process. Eric Evans...

There’s a common misconception that’s permeated our profession: Architects don’t need to write code to do their jobs. Now, this may seem like a harmless approach. After all, writing code...

Hexagonal architecture is a model or pattern for designing software applications. The idea behind it is to put inputs and outputs at the edges of your design. In doing so,...

Today’s post attempts to answer a very simple and straightforward question: “When is it OK to use a C# partial class?” And the answer as straightforward as this: “When you need...

A bunch of years ago, I wrote a post on my own personal blog titled, “Why I Don’t Like C# Extension Methods.”  Over the years, I’ve updated that post a...

I really love the name “shotgun surgery” for describing a code smell.  It’s sort of an interesting mix of aggressive and comical, and so it paints a memorable picture.  I...

So you’ve read about the Onion Architecture and think you get it. There are layers in this architecture. They’re onion-like. And they make your code better. But how? And what...

There was a time when Linq was a mystery to me. But, now that I’ve learned how to use it, I don’t know how I ever lived without it! You’ll...

Quite often we talk about architectural concerns on this blog, with topics like application layering or the merits of design patterns.  But today I’m going to switch gears a little...

As an architect, you know that programming to an interface is good. It’s what everyone should do. But what does that mean? And why should you do it? Searching the...

In this day and age, unit testing isn’t as controversial as it once was. Sure, you still see the occasional inflammatory, clickbait-y, confrontational “unit testing is garbage” type of post...

Layered architecture gets a lot of flack. Even though it’s still the most prevalent architecture, we view it as an anti-pattern. It’s old, not scaleable, and anti-SOLID. It encourages (shudder)...

In case you haven’t seen it, I’ve been diving ever-further down the code research rabbit hole.  Today it brings me to the Autofac codebase (found here).  But to understand how...

In the spirit of the Agile Manifesto, we’ve reduced our dependence on software documentation. In some ways, this has improved our lives. And in other ways, it’s been taken too...