Optional Argument Overload Bear Traps

C# programmers, beware the optional argument overload trap!  If you don't already know about Optional Arguments and Named Arguments, read through my post, Introduction to Optional Arguments and Named Arguments.

Unfortunately, one of my clients is not a C++ programmer, and encountered this issue, when updating a common library.  Realizing this issue may severely impact large applications (i.e. enterprise, B2B, etc.), I thought it best to discuss it openly.  Using optional arguments may be setting yourself a trap that will be difficult to escape, in the future.

Introduction to Optional Arguments and Named Arguments

This is an introduction to Optional Arguments in C# 4.  C# programmers, beware the optional argument overload trap!  If you already know about Optional Arguments and Named Arguments, you may want to check out my post, Optional Argument Overload Bear Traps.

Mouse Suites Aren't So Sweet

Visual Studio, Microsoft Office, and many other applications making use of docked windows are subject to the rigors of "helpful" mouse software suites, kindly loaded by computer manufacturers.  Such manufacturers include HP / Compaq, IBM / Lenovo, and others.

Visual Studio Wears Sabots

This post addresses the problem of compiler errors reporting missing namespaces for solutions composed of multiple projects.

15th century Netherlands textile laborers were believed to throw their wooden shoes, called sabots (sah-BOW), into the cogs of mechanized looms, to prevent their occupation from being rendered obsolete by automated processes; hence, the supposed root and historical context of the word, sabotage.

One would expect Visual Studio to be an industrious little worker, and that it is.  In fact, it works so hard to make our development experience easier, it often runs right out of its clogs, which then fall deep into the whirling cogs of the .NET Framework.  In some cases, Visual Studio sabotages a project, resulting in the following symptoms: