Dust off an old computer and put it to work.

What automated refactorings would you like to see?

A simple tool which makes refactoring safer.

In this blog, I describe 'sensing variables', and how you can use them to make large method refactoring easier. I also discuss the potential for tools which could achieve the same effects in a nicer way.

Tempted to code defensively? Maybe it's because you're dealing with offensive code.

XP2006 is over. Here's the first in a series of writeups about what happened.

The other day, I wrote a little testing tool for Java. It’s a simple little thing, just a set of classes that you can use with JUnit to make refactoring a little easier. When I was done, I looked at it and I realized that I’d made a bit of a mistake. I wrote the tool using Java 5.

Many people imply that 'final' in Java aids security. I don't think I buy that.

Why don't we treat it like a set of tests?

If it is, maybe there's something we can do to decouple static types and the languages which use them.

A blog where Michael recounts a number of things that have happened to him this month that are likely of interest to no one but himself, and then finishes with something significant to show late respect for people who've read through the first part after being warned.

It's been ages since I’ve visited a team that didn’t use some form of third-party software, something more than their platform. Often this software is integral to their work. Why don’t they treat that way?

Okay, so Turkey Day is tomorrow. It's time for a frivolous, non-software related blog. Or not. I could tie software in at the last moment to keep things on topic. I usually do. We'll see how it goes.

Isn't it wonderful to complain about something minor? Something so nit picky<Ctrl-S> that most people wouldn't care about it? Well, here's something in that vein.<Ctrl-S>

Scott Bellware just posted a link to Microsoft's guidelines for TDD on the TDD mailing list. <sigh>