In the previous installment, I discussed 3 basic commands that help you navigate around Powershell. This post is focused on the data Powershell makes available through commands, and how you can manipulate it. Types are where Powershell starts to look more like a scripting language than just a shell. First a few basics. Powershell is object-oriented. This deviates from most shells like Cmd or Bash, where it is really string based. »
This is the weekend when titans collide. Where everything is put on the line. Where Uncle Bob challenges Joel to a post-off. Today on Object Mentor, Uncle Bob railed Joel Spolsky and Jeff Atwood for their recent Stack Overflow Podcast. Whose side am I on? Well, if it’s on SOLID principles, Agile, testing, or anything to do with code, Bob. »
Maybe not, but I did cancel my MySpace account today. I am part of too many social networks, and I didn’t use MySpace at all. Friends use Facebook. Specialized industry groups use Ning. MySpace just didn’t have a real purpose anymore for me. »
A few days ago, a developer at work said something that made me cringe, “Every day we write more legacy code”. My first instinct was to reinstate our corporal punishment policy. Then he said something quite amazing that I didn’t expect, “Any code we are afraid to change, because it isn’t thoroughly tested, is legacy code.” I cried. Literally. Figuratively. I know he read this in Working Effectively with Legacy Code, but to really see him get the importance of testing is awesome. »
Today, I decided that I didn’t like most of the Powershell intro articles and books out there. They focus a lot on semantics, details, language structure, and really complex use cases. But those are all orthogonal concerns. What really matters is what you can do with Powershell right now and what you need as a foundation. This is my attempt at creating a simple, light weight introduction to Powershell so that you can get started in minutes, not days. »
“A picture is worth 1000 words” Most blogs that I read integrate media, specifically pictures, into their posts. A video can be avoided. Text can be skimmed. But pictures can’t be overlooked. Good pictures draw you into an article, or website, and add to the story the author is trying to tell you. Last week, I posted a setup guide for NHaml with nearly 25 screen shots. Surprisingly, I was able to grab all the screenshots, cropped and everything, in about 15 minutes. »
You know software development is mainstream when you hear an argument about programming languages at a bar. “Dude, I program in C, it is way more pure than Java” “Whatever, you probably have memory leaks everywhere” “At least I know what memory management is, tool” I am not joking, I heard something similar tonight. Obviously I embellished a tiny bit, but I would never have expected to hear an argument like that in a bar from a group that I am not a part of. »
Today I found myself at a crossroads regarding testing. In my efforts to have pure unit tests, I had created tests with no assertions. Each test contained a mock object that verified multiple expectations, but no assertions. While each mock expectation could be thought of as an assertion, is it really a good idea to test the algorithm? I say no. The algorithm shouldn’t matter. The only thing that should matter is the input and output of each function. »
A few weeks ago, a co-worker showed me PlayOn. Installing it at home was more important than dinner that night. Luckily it only took about 5 minutes to get it working and I was able to eat pizza while watching the On Demand Tube. PlayOn is a simple UPNP server you install on any Windows computer in your home. Most game consoles, like my Xbox360, see the media server on the network and allow you browse all of PlayOn’s content. »
Raising money for Relay for Life by selling tickets to pie managers was a great, and gross idea. I am still a little worried I have cool whip in my ear. »