This week's reading notes bring you the latest insights into AI, .NET, open-source development, and even a few social hacks! From exploring background tasks in Blazor to the fascinating debate on Markdown vs. HTML for AI output, this roundup has something for everyone.
Let me know if you find anything particularly interesting; I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Programming
Running background tasks in Blazor with Web Workers: Exploring the .NET 11 preview - Part 1 (Andrew Lock) - This web worker role looks promising. This post explains the what, why, and how.
NuGet Package Pruning: Cleaner Dependencies and Actionable Vulnerability Reports - .NET Blog (Nikolche Kolev) - This post explains one feature that is now turned on by default in .NET that will improve our dependency graph.
AI
Anthropic Engineer Debates Use of Markdown vs. HTML in AI Agent Output (Paul Thurrott) - Interesting debate. Initially, I was hell no! But the more I think about it, the less certain I am. But we can always ask to generate HTML, so I guess it's okay to keep it lighter and more minimalist by default.
Using Azure Local Foundry CLI with PowerShell (Olivier Miossec) - A nice short tutorial to get local AI.
Open Source
- GitHub for Beginners: Getting started with OSS contributions (Kedasha Kerr) - Short tutorial that provides tips to find a project and start your first contribution
Podcasts
513: Agents Over Chat: The Future of Developer Workflows (Merge Conflict) - James and Frank discuss token optimization, model choices, and the workflow; do you make one master big plan or do you do multiple passes...
How to Stop Being Socially Awkward (According to Science) with Behavioral Scientist Vanessa Van Edwards (A Bit of Optimism) - I really appreciated this episode, and I wish many others would find it. It's packed with little gems that will make you feel better.
Miscellaneous
- If You Didn't Capture It, Did It Really Happen? (Golnaz Alibeigi) - Will people attend an in-person event if it's available online? That's what this post answers.