Development | Leave a Comment on Supporting Multiple WS-Federation Authentication Schemes in ASP.NET Core

Supporting Multiple WS-Federation Authentication Schemes in ASP.NET Core

ASP.NET Core allows you to add support for multiple authentication schemes, such as social auth providers or WS-Federation. This support can be added with or without ASP.NET Identity Core. Users can then use these schemes to authenticate with your web application. While adding support for social authentication providers (such as Twitter and Facebook) is useful,Continue reading Supporting Multiple WS-Federation Authentication Schemes in ASP.NET Core

General | 4 Comments on Install Docker Engine without Docker Desktop on Windows

Install Docker Engine without Docker Desktop on Windows

Docker have recently announced changes to their pricing and subscriptions which require a paid subscription for users outside of personal, education and small business use. It seems that this license change only applies to Docker Desktop which is the GUI client for Windows and Mac. The good news is that you can install the DockerContinue reading Install Docker Engine without Docker Desktop on Windows

Development | Leave a Comment on AI Assistance for Software Developer Productivity – The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

AI Assistance for Software Developer Productivity – The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Software Development can have moments of writing repetitive code. Following the DRY principle can help avoid this, but sometimes one block of code isn’t doing the same thing as another, although it is doing something similar (such as mapping objects in a collection). In these cases AI can be a helpful aid, but it doesContinue reading AI Assistance for Software Developer Productivity – The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

General | Leave a Comment on Using ngrok with IIS Express and ASP.NET Core

Using ngrok with IIS Express and ASP.NET Core

Sometimes it can be helpful to quickly make the version of a project which is running on your development machine available to others. This could be for webhook integrations, demos, or some other reason. One of the tools you can use to achieve this is ngrok. ngrok creates a secure tunnel and expose the webContinue reading Using ngrok with IIS Express and ASP.NET Core

General | Leave a Comment on Microsoft Remote Desktop (RDP) Stuck on “Please Wait”

Microsoft Remote Desktop (RDP) Stuck on “Please Wait”

I often use Remote Desktop Connection (RDP) to connect to computers remotely when I am out and about. However, recently when I tried to remotely connect using RDP, I became stuck at a blue screen with a “Please Wait” message after connecting. After a few minutes of waiting, I became a bit suspicious that somethingContinue reading Microsoft Remote Desktop (RDP) Stuck on “Please Wait”

Development | 2 Comments on Logging in .NET Core using ILogger

Logging in .NET Core using ILogger

Logging is an important part of software development. It helps us know that tasks have been completed, monitor applications and provides a trail to follow when things don’t work. Microsoft has included a logging framework in .NET Core and ASP.NET Core to allow developers to easily implement logging and choose their own logging provider (thisContinue reading Logging in .NET Core using ILogger

Development | 3 Comments on Using a Vue.js SPA with ASP.NET Core Web API

Using a Vue.js SPA with ASP.NET Core Web API

I recently started working on a new side project and decided to implement it as a single page application (SPA). For this, I chose to build an API powered by an ASP.NET Core Web API and a Vue.js powered front-end to consume the API. I could find templates included in Visual Studio for AngularJS andContinue reading Using a Vue.js SPA with ASP.NET Core Web API

Development | Leave a Comment on Handling null values in C#

Handling null values in C#

Handling null values in C# and .NET comes with the territory. Null values were introduced by Tony Hoare in mid-1960s to represent missing or unknown data. This is a useful capability but it has resulted in null reference exceptions becoming one of the most common causes of bugs which developers face. As a result, Tony Hoare now calls the nullContinue reading Handling null values in C#

Development | Leave a Comment on What makes a good log message?

What makes a good log message?

Logging can provide important information about the behaviour of software applications. It allows operations staff to monitor application performance and gives developers a trail to follow when trying to diagnose the cause of errors. With this in mind, it is worth considering what is good information to record in a log file and what formatContinue reading What makes a good log message?

Development | 2 Comments on How to send emails in .NET Core with MimeKit and Mailkit

How to send emails in .NET Core with MimeKit and Mailkit

The ability for an application to send emails is a very common requirement. This can be for emails such as providing account information, sending marketing emails or even a password reset email. This post will cover how to send an email using MimeKit and MailKit from an ASP.NET Core MVC web application. I will use MailSlurper as a local SMTP server toContinue reading How to send emails in .NET Core with MimeKit and Mailkit