Reading Notes #673

This week’s notes focus on where AI meets everyday development: Copilot and Azure for tighter, faster workflows, a thoughtful overhaul of Aspire’s deploy CLI, and a hands‑on look at building MCP servers in C#. Security threads through it all with practical DevSecOps and Shadow IT reminders plus podcast picks on teaching, acronyms, and tackling imposter syndrome.

AI

• Introducing the azd extension to configure GitHub Copilot coding agent integration with Azure (Kristen Womack) - That's a great idea! Getting Copilot in this deployment tool will help improve security and pass some blockers.

• Build & Leverage MCP Servers in C# for AI-Driven Development (Sam Basu) - This is a good post for learning the basics of the MCP server. And for C# dev, how to write one.

• How I used AI to redesign Aspire’s deploy CLI command (Safia Abdalla) - A very interesting post that shares the entire process of this refactoring.

Programming

• Cozy Aspire Dashboarding (Victor Frye) - Interesting usage of the properties to customize the dashboard, love it

Podcasts

• GitHub Spec Kit with Den Delimarsky (.NET Rocks!) - Happy to learn more about this Spec Kit, it looks very useful. Looking forward to trying it.

• Mind the Gaps: Teaching Devs, Taming Acronyms, and Surviving Imposter Syndrome with Tim Corey (Coding After Work Podcast) - I really enjoy Tim's content online, and it was nice learning more about him and his passion for helping others.

Miscellaneous

• Stop Shadow IT: Shared Responsibility for DevSecOps (Alison Gunnels) - Nothing new here, to be honest. When people work together, it's always better. And it's good to hear it from time to time.

Sharing my Reading Notes is a habit I started a long time ago, where I share a list of all the articles, blog posts, and books that catch my interest during the week.

If you have interesting content, share it!

~frank

Reading Notes #672

Welcome to this week's reading notes! We're exploring topics that might seem refreshingly old-school at first, developer experience improvements, cross-platform packaging, logging strategies, and even podcast succession planning. You know, the kind of practical stuff that actually keeps our projects running. Though I should mention there's a conversation about local AI models tucked in there too, because apparently it's still 2025. Sometimes the best way forward is making sure our foundations are solid.

Programming

• How to Improve Developer Experience in Microservices Applications with .NET Aspire (Opaluwa Emidowojo) - Of course, there's a name for what the net aspire resolved. I never thought about it that way, but it makes total sense. By the way, Aspire is fantastic.

• Automating Away Cross-Platform Packaging Complexity for .NET Developers ( Uno Platform Team) - UNO platform can be packaged, for free, for all platforms. That's very convenient and easy to use it looks like.

• Define a default startup project in your slnx file - A simple fix for a painful problem when using slnx solution is now fixed.

Databases

• Add request logging to a database in an ASP.NET Core Web API (David Grace) - This is a nice tutorial showing step-by-step how to add and configure it

Podcasts

• 482: 1 Day Apps (Merge Conflict) - My first thought was 1 Day? yeah right! lol Cool episode sharing their journey with those building those types of apps.

• Local AI Models with Joe Finney (.NET Rocks!) - Nice episode chatting about local AI. Why would you do that, what are your options yadi yada.

• Rob Lowe Names Names: The Power of ‘Screw It’ (A Bit of Optimism) - Fun episode. Feels like a variation on how to not give it a sh!t theme, but it's always good to get reminded.

• Podcast Succession Planning: What Happens To Your Show When You're Dead? (Feed Your Brand) - This is a great episode! Yes things move fast from time to time, right ;)

Sharing my Reading Notes is a habit I started a long time ago, where I share a list of all the articles, blog posts, and books that catch my interest during the week.

If you have interesting content, share it!

~frank

Reading Notes #671

From debugging Docker builds to refining your .NET setup, this week’s Reading Notes delivers a sharp mix of practical dev tips and forward-looking tech insights. We revisit jQuery’s place in today’s web stack, explore AI-enhancing MCP servers, and spotlight open-source projects shaping tomorrow’s tools. Plus, PowerToys gets a sleek upgrade to streamline your Windows workflow. 

Let’s check out the ideas and updates that keep your skills fresh and your systems humming.

Programming

• A quick look at Dev Tunnels (Mike Irving) - This post shares a very cool feature where you can make your local Host available to someone else to reproduce a bug or try an API without having to deploy. Pretty cool,

• 6 Steps for Setting Up a New .NET Project the Right Way (Milan Jovanović) - This nice post provides some simple best practices. It helps to keep the code consistent and efficient when the solution contains multiple projects or when multiple developers are involved.

• Debug Docker Builds with Visual Studio Code (Remy Suen) - Wow! Great update on this extension that will help us debug a dockerfile.

• Why I Still Use jQuery in 2025 (and When Not to) (Aniket Bhattacharyea) - I guess you know jQuery? If you do, this post tells us how to be sure when or not to use it. Nice.

AI

• 5 Essential MCP Servers That Give Claude & Cursor Real Superpowers (2025) (Prithwish Nath) - MCP servers are really powerful and really boost your compilot productivity. I wouldn't say they are essential, but definitely useful

• 9 open-source projects the GitHub Copilot and Visual Studio Code teams are sponsoring—and why they matter - Microsoft Open Source Blog (Stacey Haffner) - Those projects definitely need a look. They are very interesting if you're using mCP servers.

Miscellaneous

• PowerToys 0.95 is here: new Light Switch utility, faster Command Palette, and Peek with Spacebar (Niels Laute) - Lots of very interesting new features and a performance boost in this month's release.

Sharing my Reading Notes is a habit I started a long time ago, where I share a list of all the articles, blog posts, and books that catch my interest during the week.

If you have interesting content, share it!

~frank