Using the Automatic Recovery Features of Windows Services

Windows Services support the ability to automatically perform some defined action in response to a failure. The recovery action is specified in the Recovery tab of the service property page (which can be found in Settings->Control Panel->Administrative Tools -> Services). The Recovery tab allows you to define actions that can be performed on the 1st [...]

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The Importance of Sharpening the Saw

Today I popped into Starbucks and saw a sign at the register that said they would be closed from 5:30 – 9:00 this Tuesday for Espresso Training. The sign went on to say how important quality is and that the training is necessary to maintain quality. I thought maybe it was just this one store, [...]

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Rethinking the C# using statement

I’ve typically used the C# using construct to wrap an instance on an object that has a short lifetime and requires a call to Dispose. The using keyword hides the need to call Dispose explicitly and avoids having to use a try-finally to ensure that Dispose is always called. One example of a class that [...]

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Pair Programming Follow-Up

In my last post I described some of my early impressions on my first pair programming experience. Still no complaints, although a few additional observations. I am surprised at the end of the day to find that I am a little mentally drained and I think that is a good thing. The effort that we [...]

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Pair Programming

I’ve been doing some pair programming this week and have found the experience to be extremely productive and informative. I am pairing with a guy named Mike, who is someone I have worked with in the past and really enjoying working with. We are in the midst of a fairly significant refactoring effort for a [...]

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