Nullable Reference Types are a feature in C# that helps developers avoid null reference exceptions by providing compile-time checks for nullability. This feature was introduced in C# 8.0 and is designed to improve code quality and reduce runtime errors. When the compiler cannot handle all cases, so developers may need to use the null-forgiving operator ! to suppress warnings. This operator tells the… [read more]

The C# compiler is smart enough to understand some constructs and generates optimized code. However, C# gives you multiple ways to express the same intent. The compiler is not always smart enough to optimize every single ways. In this post, I will show you how to use pattern matching syntax to improve the performance of your code in some cases. Here's an example that checks if a version number is one of… [read more]

When creating a new virtual machine in Hyper-V with Ubuntu Server with all the default settings, the partition will have 60GB of space instead of 127GB (default size of the virtual hard disk). Maybe there is a setting somewhere that I missed during the setup, but I couldn't find it. The solution is to resize the partition after the installation. This can be done with the following commands: First, check… [read more]

In .NET, many types provide a static Parse method to convert strings into their respective types. For example: int.Parse("123"); double.Parse("123.45"); DateTime.Parse("2023-01-01"); IPAddress.Parse("192.168.0.1"); However, enums require the use of the Enum.Parse method: Enum.Parse<MyEnum>("Value1"); // MyEnum.Parse("Value1"); // This doesn't work Wouldn't it be more intuitive if enums supported a Parse… [read more]

CultureInfo.InvariantCulture is not invariant for all operations. It is a special culture that is used for formatting and parsing operations that do not depend on any specific culture. For instance, this is well-suited to format values in order to persist them. However, it is not invariant for string comparisons. Comparing strings using InvariantCulture can lead to different results depending on the… [read more]

Renaming a .NET project is tedius. You have to rename the files and folders. You also have to replace the content in the files, such as namespace, or path in .sln files. Here's a PowerShell script that renames files and folders and replaces content in files: $ErrorActionPreference = "Stop" $rootFolder = Resolve-Path -Path "." $oldName = "Sample.Foo" $newName = "Sample.Bar" # Rename files and folders… [read more]

Here's a PowerShell script that removes empty folders recursively: $rootFolder = 'C:\Temp' Get-ChildItem $rootFolder -Recurse -Directory -Force | Sort-Object -Property FullName -Descending | Where-Object { $($_ | Get-ChildItem -Force | Select-Object -First 1).Count -eq 0 } | Remove-Item The logic is following: Get all directories recursively, use -Force to get hidden folders Sort them in descending order… [read more]

There is no self-closing tag in html! This statement seems wrong as you may have seen self-closing tags in html, such as <img src="foo.jpg" /> (with /> at the end). However, this is not a concept in html. Let me explain. While HTML looks similar to a permissive XML, it's not XML. As an example, you don't need to open or close all tags. For instance, you can omit the closing tag for some elements such as… [read more]

PowerShell doesn't provide a built-in way to use a natural sort. However, you can use the Sort-Object cmdlet with a custom script block to achieve a natural sort. In this post, I describe how you can use a natural sort in PowerShell. What is a natural sort? A natural sort is a sorting algorithm that orders strings in a way that is more human-friendly. For example, a natural sort of the following strings:… [read more]

Symbolic link allows to create a link to a file or directory. The symbolic link is a second file that exists independently of its target. If a symbolic link is deleted, its target remains unaffected. If the target is deleted, the symbolic link is not automatically removed. This is different from hard links which always refer to an existing file. Windows allows creation of symbolic links since Windows… [read more]