The strongest articles on engineering excellence and technical leadership — ranked by substance, not recency. How this is ranked
Engineering as a Leadership System: Moving Beyond Frameworks
Delivery outcomes are shaped less by frameworks and practices than by the operating model leaders have designed. How an organisation's …
Why Most Companies Operating Models Fail in Dynamic Markets
A concise comparison of Predictive and Adaptive Operating Models, explaining why traditional structures fail in dynamic markets and how …
One Azure DevOps Project for 1,500 People Is Not the Risky Option
Compare the coordination costs of separate Azure DevOps Projects with the governance a shared Project requires, using actual dependencies …
Telling People What to Do Is Not Leadership. It’s a Failure of System Design
Explores why real leadership means designing systems that enable team autonomy, flow, and accountability, rather than relying on …
The AI Decided Is Not an Explanation
When an AI says it got bored or we say it lied, we give a machine feelings and intentions. The false output needs an explanation, not an …
AI Agents Lie About Being Done
My agent reported every task complete when half the tests were missing. Call that a lie if you like. The engineering problem is that the …
Don’t Manage Dependencies, Remove Them
Explains why dependencies are a sign of poor system design and outlines steps to eliminate them by aligning teams, clarifying ownership, and …
The Estimation Trap: How Tracking Accuracy Undermines Trust, Flow, and Value in Software Delivery
Tracking estimation accuracy in software delivery leads to mistrust, fear, and distorted behaviours. Focus on customer value, flow, and …
Is Agile Really Just a Mindset?
Explores Agile as a disciplined system of delivery, emphasizing engineering excellence, CI/CD, observability, and system design over mindset …
597 resources, newest first
Solution - IIS SMTP Service 5.5.2 rejected: need fully qualified hostname
Explains how to resolve IIS SMTP error 5.5.2 by configuring a fully qualified domain name, ensuring outgoing emails are accepted by …
Solution - SEO permanent redirects for old URL’s?
Explains how to set up SEO-friendly permanent redirects for old URLs to new ones in ASP.NET, covering best practices and code examples for …
Investigation - SEO permanent redirects for old URL’s?
Explains how to implement SEO-friendly permanent 301 redirects for old URLs to preserve search rankings, comparing IIS tools and custom …
Create a VHD from the Windows Server 2008 R2 Image disk
Step-by-step guide to create a Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) from a Windows Server 2008 R2 image using Windows AIK and WIM2VHD, including common …
Installing Visual Studio 2008 Team Foundation Server SP1
Step-by-step guide to installing Visual Studio 2008 Team Foundation Server SP1, including backup, testing, troubleshooting, and rollback …
Deploying Visual Studio 2010 Team Foundation Server Beta 2 - Done
Covers the step-by-step process and team effort involved in migrating from TFS 2008 to Visual Studio 2010 Team Foundation Server Beta 2, …
Configuring Visual Studio 2010 Team Foundation Server on Vista in 12 minutes
Step-by-step guide to configuring Visual Studio 2010 Team Foundation Server on Windows Vista, including setup options, compatibility notes, …
Installing Visual Studio 2010 Team Foundation Server on Windows Vista in 3 minutes
Step-by-step guide to quickly installing Visual Studio 2010 Team Foundation Server on Windows Vista, including setup options and …
Wpf Ninject Dojo: The Data Provider
Explains how to use a custom NinjectDataProvider in WPF to enable dependency injection for ViewModels, improving flexibility and design-time …
Updating the Command Line Parser
Explains how to enhance a .NET command line parser to support multiple and nested commands, custom switches, and delegate-based execution …
Wpf Drag & Drop behaviour
Explains how to implement flexible drag and drop in WPF using MVVM, with customisable drop behaviour and bindable options for ItemsControls, …
Creating a Data Access layer using Unity
Learn how to build a flexible data access layer in .NET using Unity for dependency injection, interface mapping, and factory patterns with …
A perfect match TFS and DLR
Explores integrating Team Foundation Server check-in policies with the Dynamic Language Runtime to enable flexible, centralised policy …
Log Elmah errors in Team Foundation Server
Explains how to log Elmah error reports as work items in Team Foundation Server, including attaching error logs, using templates, and …
List all files changed under an Iteration
Shows how to use TFS API calls to list all files changed in a specific iteration, including querying work items and extracting changesets to …
Connecting VS2008 to any TFS2010 Project Collection
Learn how to connect Visual Studio 2008 SP1 to any TFS 2010 project collection using the correct URL format, including compatibility notes …
Upgrading to TFS 2010 Beta 1 and SQL Collation
Explains issues upgrading from TFS 2008 to TFS 2010 Beta 1 due to SQL Server collation conflicts, error messages, and the need to align …
Multi-Targeting in Visual Studio 2010
Explains how Visual Studio 2010 allows developers to target multiple .NET Framework versions, enabling work on legacy and new projects …
Connecting VS2010 to TFS 2008
Learn how to connect Visual Studio 2010 to Team Foundation Server 2008, view legacy project collections, and access projects without …
Unity and ASP.NET
Explains how to use Unity for dependency injection in ASP.NET, enabling runtime component swapping without redeploying, with practical code …
My.Unity.Resolve(Of Ninja)
Shows how to create a shared UnityContainer singleton in VB.NET using the “My” namespace, enabling dependency injection across WPF and …
Developer Day Scotland 2009
Summary of sessions from a Glasgow developer event, covering refactoring, dynamic languages in .NET, MVVM for WPF, architecture, and ASP.NET …
Data Dude R2 is out!
Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition GDR R2 adds new features, improved SQL Server 2008 support, enhancements, and bug fixes for …
Windows Azure Training Kit
Comprehensive training resources for Windows Azure, including hands-on labs, demo scripts, and presentations on cloud services, .NET, SQL, …
Does test-driven development speed up development?
Explores whether test-driven development (TDD) accelerates software delivery by reducing complexity, rework, and design flaws, and improving …
Live Framework
Explores using Azure Services Platform to enable cloud-based configuration, real-time chat, and collaboration features in WPF applications, …
TFS Event Handler v1.3 released
TFS Event Handler v1.3 automates work item notifications in Team Foundation Server 2008, now supporting group alerts and custom event …
Retrieving an identity from Team Foundation Server using only the display name
Explains how to retrieve a user or group identity from Team Foundation Server using only a display name, including handling Active Directory …
TFS Event Handler v1.1 released
Automates notifications for Team Foundation Server 2008 work item changes, removing the need for manual alerts. Includes a framework for …
Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition GDR has been released!
The new Database Edition GDR for Visual Studio Team System 2008 adds model-based SQL schema design, extensibility, provider support, and …
Advice on using XamRibbon with Composite WPF
Provides guidance and code examples for integrating Infragistics XamRibbon with Composite WPF, including custom region adapters for dynamic …
Composite WPF and Merged Dictionaries
Explains how to manage dynamic resource dictionaries and themes in WPF with Composite WPF, addressing common errors and providing code …
TFS Sticky Buddy v2.0
Sticky Buddy v2.0 introduces a redesigned interface, modular structure, and expanded diagram features for improved usability in TFS-related …
MSBuild and Business Intelligence Packages, Ahhhhhh!
Discusses challenges in automating builds, testing, and deployment for SQL Server BI solutions, focusing on SSIS and SSAS packages and gaps …
Hosted TFS, and cheap….from Phase2
Overview of Phase2’s hosted Team Foundation Server (TFS) service, including features, pricing, backup, scalability, integration, and support …
Branch madness!
Describes a complex source control issue in TFS involving branch mismanagement, its impact on merging, and step-by-step actions taken to …
TFS Usage Statistics
Provides key statistics on Team Foundation Server usage, including user activity, work items, version control, builds, and recent command …
Creating a WPF Work Item Control
Learn how to build a custom WPF work item control for Visual Studio Team System, enabling WPF UI integration in work item forms using a …
Team Build Error
Explains troubleshooting a confusing MS Build error in a mixed Visual Studio 2005/2008 environment, resolved by updating GDR and Business …
Found GDR Bug: At least I think it is
Describes a bug in GDR and Data Dude where SQL views using derived tables cause unresolved reference errors, impacting database project …
LINQ to XSD
Explains how to use LINQ to XSD in C# to generate classes from XSD files, including setup steps, project configuration, and integration with …
Calling an object method in a data trigger
Explains how to call an object method in a WPF DataTrigger, the limitations with extension methods, and common errors when binding methods …
Heat ITSM
Describes integrating Heat ITSM with Team Foundation Server to sync and manage support calls, automate work item creation, and streamline IT …
Ooooh, RTM Delight
Visual Studio 2008, .NET Framework 3.5 SP1, and Team Foundation Server 2008 Beta 1 released, featuring major improvements for developers in …
.NET Service Manager
A tool for managing and integrating local and remote services in .NET applications, enabling easy creation of client-side APIs for web …
Error creating listener in Team Build
Explains how to resolve AddressAccessDeniedException when running tests in Team Build by granting the Build Agent service account permission …
TFS Error: MSB4018 The "BuildShadowTask" task failed unexpectedly
Explains the MSB4018 "BuildShadowTask" error in TFS when using Accessors in unit test projects, its cause, and how removing .accessor files …
Creating a SharePoint Solution
Follow the development of a .NET 3.5 SharePoint Time Off Management app using WebParts, Workflow, InfoPath, SQL Server, and test-driven …
Post event: Developer Day Scotland
Highlights from Developer Day Scotland, featuring sessions on ADO.NET Data Services, anti-patterns, continuous integration, and test-driven …
Major deadline
A critical SharePoint migration project faces urgent deadlines after performance issues, requiring rapid deployment of a new MOSS portal to …