When test-driving your code, you shift between red (write a failing test), green (write the code needed to make the test pass) & refactor (clean up). But how do you kickstart this loop? What heuristics can you use to guide selection of the next test you write? This article summarizes the most common heuristics and highlights the one I use predominantly:
Continue readingPick the test that forces you to add one (and only one) new facet.
Have you ever worked with code that literally brought tears to your eyes? Not in the good sense, mind you. I’m talking about code that is such a hassle to work with it makes you rethink some of your career choices. If that’s the case, a legacy code retreat might be just what you need to stop your fear of legacy code and instead start to appreciate the opportunities for improvement it provides. Legacy code can be a joy to work with, if you tackle it the right way.
Does the term “rewrite” scare the bejeezus out of you? Good. It should. A rewrite is not something to be taken lightly and should be your very last resort. There are less painful routes you can take, but what if there really is no valid alternative to The Big R?
Last year I had the opportunity to work on the development of a browser extension for multiple browsers. As I wanted to minimize the amount of browser-specific code and wanted to avoid duplicating my extension for every browser, I used the Crossrider framework. This post provides an overview of my experiences with developing a cross-browser extension using the framework.
The extension I had to create was meant to search through web pages as the user visited them and then add some extra functionality to certain keywords on the page. I won’t go into details here, but it’s something similar as Skype’s Click to Call, which does the same with phone numbers: Click to Call recognizes phone numbers and adds a button to the webpage to easily call this number through Skype:
Skype Click to Call in action – copyright http://www.skype.com
jvaneyck 