Merge Conflict

This week we tackle the TPL, that is right, the Task Parallel Library. We dive into one of our favorite features of C# and .NET, async/await programming. We take a walk down memory lane to talk about thread pools, completion handlers, locks, and just about everything else we had to do for parallel programming. Sit back, relax, and enjoy some TPL! Follow Us Frank: Twitter , Blog , GitHub James: Twi...

DevOps, that is right Developer Operations, all the things that you don't want to do manually, so you automate them! This week we talk about build, test, and deploy for all of your mobile applications and .NET libraries. As solo developers it all seemed like a pipe dream to have everything magically happen when we committed code to GitHub, but the services available streamline the entire process....

It's everyone's favorite topic... TESTING! That's right we tackle the world of unit testing, code coverage, user interface testing, acceptance testing, and so much more. Even though Frank and James are solo developers and there may not always be time to write a full suite of unit tests, that doesn't mean they don't dream of 100% code coverage. What does that even mean though? Does that mean your a...

Is 3D printing poised to change how we prototype and build parts and full machines or is it just another toy? Both Frank and James have been long time 3D printing advocates and with prices coming down to consumer friendly levels it seems like it is a great time to jump in. However, as James just recently experienced it may still be early days filled with tons of headaches and thrown away print fai...

It's that time again... Lightning Talks!!! Every 10th episode here on Merge Conflict we take a look at our list of topics and what our listeners have submitted and pick six different topics that each get five minutes of coverage. This round we take a look at the ideal developer setup, how to manage tricky certificates, properly handling settings in applications, publishing an app in a week, effect...

It's time to tune our developer skills by leveraging some amazing coding challenges that teach us answers to questions like exactly what are linked lists again? We share the best resources we know on coding questions and share our experiences from past interviews of what you should really be studying. It isn't just code as we discuss the crazy left field questions that you may be asked during your...

It is finally time for .NET truly to be EVERYWHERE! This week we investigate the dream of .NET Standard libraries, one library that can be shared in any .NET application. We take a look at the concept, implementation, tooling, and mix in our analysis of the pros and cons of making the big switch to .NET Standard libraries. Follow Us Frank: Twitter , Blog , GitHub James: Twitter , Blog , GitHub Mus...

It's time to go down the rabbit hole of networking to investigate the ins and outs of Transport Layer Security (TLS) and how it impacts your apps. James walks Frank through his latest issues with APIs requiring TLS 1.2+ and how he was able to debug the situation at 4:30am to get a new release of his app. We attempt to make networking fun as we dive through HTTP Headers and general connectivity tip...

When and how should you drop support for a specific device or operating system? We talk about the market today and how we handle it in our own apps. We also dive into specifics around what types of hardware architecture to support and how that impacts your application. Finally, it is much more than just mobile applications, as the same has to be considered for the desktop, and Frank speaks from pe...

It's time to talk code security when developing applications to try to stop people from stealing our precious code and apps. We discuss the different methods we have used to attempt to obfuscate our code and the tools we use to peek into our own code. When it comes to security, it is more than just the executable we ship as we have to be aware of everything happening on the device such as in app p...

It is time to tackle the other desktop and brush up on our struts and springs as when investigate the ins and outs of macOS. If you know iOS development your are primed to make your next great desktop macOS application, it is way easier than you think! Frank walks us through how he got started, what you need, and how Xamarin. Forms is about to change the desktop game. Links & Show Notes Sparkl...

Is your data ready for a complete disaster? We discuss why you should care about backing up your data and how to easily get started. No matter if it is just a few photos, your entire business documentation, or the most important source code in the world you have to have ways of backing up and restoring data no matter where you are in the world. Frank and James break down some horror stories from t...

Everyone should build their own computer! This week we cover the ins and outs of building your own "Super" computer from scratch. We discuss where we got started building our own computers and what keeps us inspired to keep building them after all these years. All of this while Frank tries to explain to James what "Super" computer really means. Links & Show Notes James' "Super" Computer James'...

Cross-platform user interface? Pipe dream or reality? Frank and James debate the Pros and Cons of Xamarin. Forms, an open source cross-platform user interface library from Xamarin. We discuss performance, look and feel, alternatives, and if we really should be using all those fancy data bindings on this week's show. Links & Show Notes Xamarin. Forms Xamarin. Forms Roadmap Free Xamarin. Forms B...

It's lightning talks week here on Merge Conflict. We cover six topics in under thirty minutes! We take a look at topics that have been on our minds for a while and from our listeners. On this week's lightning talks episode we take a look at iMessage Apps, GPU Programming, Tensorflow, how to advertise an application, and ask the age old question... "Do I really need ALL the mobile platforms?". Link...

What better way to start 2017 than a crash course in fun new things for developers to start playing around with. We pick out our favorite topics that developers ought to know to try out in 2017. We look at new interactive ways of designing and building user interfaces, how to run .NET on Linux, how to properly use the linker, and finally how to compile C# & F# code to JavaScript. Links & S...

What does it take to enable and test In-App Purchases in your application? We cover the ins and outs of each step in the process. We walk through the different reasons why you may want to consider adding IAP, what is available, and how to simplify your life by not making the mistakes James has. In addition, we follow up on Episode 16 with a quick recap of the Nintendo Switch event. Links & Sho...

Frank is off traveling the world, but that hasn't stopped him from coding on the road. This week we take a look at being productive while away from home including the software and hardware to stay light and productive, how to get internet away from the US, and what complications we have both run into. Links & Show Notes iPad Pro Prompt2 App Working Copy App GoBag Chrome Remote Desktop Frank: T...

Even though we love our world of C# sometimes we have to adventure into the great unknown to get things done. This week James and Frank explore new languages, new IDEs, and brand new services as they explore ways to finish their #HolidayHacks and try out new ideas. James takes a good hard look at building serverless applications with Azure Functions and Frank takes a look at his good old pal... PH...

The holidays are here and it is time to do some holiday hacking on things we wish we could have done this year. On this weeks episode Frank and James discuss their past Holiday Hacks and what they plan to accomplish before 2017 arrives. We want to hear from you by tweeting out #HolidayHacks with an @MergeConflictFM mention to let us know what you are planning to hack on this holiday. Links & S...

We love our IDEs and live in them most of the day, but it sure is nice to reach into their extensible frameworks and add even more productivity. On this week's show we chat about why there is a need for extensible IDEs, how you can extend them, and how we have personally extended them. Links & Show Notes Templates for Xamarin Mono Develop Documentation Continuous IDE Extension Frank: Twitter ,...

Object-relational mappings, you can't live with them and can't live without them so you have probably written your own by now. When you out grow built in settings and need a database an ORM is a must and we decipher the need and implementations. Links & Show Notes SQLite-net Settings Plugin Entity Framework .aspx) Frank: Twitter , Blog , GitHub James: Twitter , Blog , GitHub Music : Amethyst S...

This week we take a look at how we design mobile applications based on your questions from Twitter. We discuss designing for multiple platforms including the choice to design for the platform or use a custom app design. What are users expecting from the operating system they are using and how have we adapted our apps over the years to make our users happy? Links & Show Notes Material Design Gu...

We seem to be addicted to refactoring code, but what about checking in on CPU and Memory performance and usage with profiling? This week we take a look at the desktop and mobile tools available to developers to diagnose their applications and code to fully optimize them on the different platforms. Sponsor Bitrise : Continuous Integration and Delivery for your mobile apps. Receive $25 off a Pro pla...

It is lightning talk week on Merge Conflict as we cover six different development topics in under thirty minutes. Each topic gets just five minutes of back and forth debate before moving on to the next. This week's topics include the recent Connect(); event, .NET Standard Libraries, Xamarin. Mac, Mobile Market Share, Git, and more. While Frank and James picked a few of the topics, many are from yo...