In a previous post, I explained how to generate the OpenAPI document during the ASP.NET Core build and commit it to the repository. That gives you a versioned API contract that is easy to review in pull requests. In this post, let's go one step further: use that generated OpenAPI file as the input for Kiota, so your typed .NET client is also generated during build. The goal is simple: The server produces… [read more]

When we talk about new lines, most developers think about \r\n (Windows) and \n (Unix-like systems). That works most of the time, but it is not the full picture. Unicode and several regex engines recognize additional line break characters. If your application parses user input, logs, CSV-like content, or cross-platform data, this can matter more than you think. The line breaks you should know The most… [read more]

A few years ago, I introduced , a library to ensure you always deal with full paths in your applications and provide common methods to manipulate them easily. Recently, I've added new features to the library, including new methods and a set of Roslyn analyzers to help you use the library correctly. The main idea of FullPath is to avoid bugs related to relative paths by forcing the use of absolute paths… [read more]

PowerShell provides a set of validation attributes that enforce constraints on parameters and variables. These attributes validate input at runtime, making your scripts more robust and reducing the need for manual validation logic. Overview Validation attributes can be applied to: Function or script parameters Script-level variables Class properties When validation fails, PowerShell throws an exception… [read more]

When you need to display fractions in HTML, you might reach for the <sub> and <sup> tags. However, there's a simpler Unicode-based alternative: the fraction slash character (U+2044). What is the Fraction Slash? The fraction slash (⁄) is a Unicode character that automatically formats surrounding digits as a fraction. When placed between two digits, most modern browsers and fonts render it as a proper… [read more]

When building a Blazor application, you may want a custom base component for all your Razor components. This is useful for sharing common functionality like cancellation tokens, logging, or state management across all components. Instead of adding @inherits YourBaseComponent to every Razor file, you can use the _Imports.razor file to set it globally. Using _Imports.razor to set a default base component… [read more]

When building distributed systems, maintaining observability across process boundaries is crucial for understanding the flow of requests through your application. OpenTelemetry provides a standard way to propagate tracing context, but implementing it correctly requires understanding several key concepts. This post explains how to propagate telemetry context in .NET applications, particularly when using… [read more]

When building APIs with ASP.NET Core, it's crucial to explicitly control caching behavior. Unlike web pages where caching often improves user experience, API responses should not be cached by default unless you intentionally design them to be cacheable. Unintended caching can lead to serious issues, including stale data, security vulnerabilities, and hard-to-reproduce bugs. Understanding HTTP caching… [read more]

The Component Object Model (COM) is a fundamental technology in the Windows ecosystem. Even though it was introduced more than 30 years ago, it is still widely used today. In fact, the modern Windows Runtime (WinRT) is built on top of COM. This post explores what COM is, where it comes from, and the problems it solves. What is COM? Imagine you have a box of LEGO bricks. You can connect any brick to any… [read more]

Evaluating recurring date patterns is a common requirement in many applications. Whether you need every day, every Monday at 9 AM, or the last day of each month, you need a reliable way to calculate upcoming occurrences. Meziantou.Framework.Scheduling is a NuGet package that parses and evaluates both CRON expressions and iCalendar recurrence rules (RRule). Installation You can install the package from… [read more]