This week, we continue our Clean Code discussion as we dive into the joys and pains of error handing.

For the full show notes visit:
http://www.codingblocks.net/episode50

News

• Husain and Mike - Check your email!
• Shout out to AngryZoot! We just haven’t mentioned her in a while, and she’s awesome - and does martial arts
• Cynical Developer - James Studdart - Cake, XAML, React (Zac Braddy)
• Mark McDow - Winner of the O’Reilly Software Architecture Convention - $1700
• Maurizio Pozzobon - Code Maid retraction
• O’Reilly discount code - 50% off print, 40% off e-books! (Soft Skills - JavaScript: The Good Parts)

So - you should probably follow us on twitter, or join the mailing list!

Michael attended DevFest 2016 - Google Developer Group
http://www.gdgatl.xyz/

Secret Back Door in Some U.S. Phones Sent Data to China, Analysts Say
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/16/us/politics/china-phones-software-security.html

Allen attended MVP Summit - amazing

• Did some F#
  http://c4fsharp.net/
• F# Dojo with Fractal Trees:
  https://github.com/c4fsharp/Dojo-Fractal-Forest
• Did some Bot programming - cool stuff
• Hololens:
  https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/en-us
• Uhro Sharp - 3D programming in C#
  https://developer.xamarin.com/guides/cross-platform/urho/
• Visual Studio for the Mac?!
  https://www.visualstudio.com/vs/visual-studio-mac/

Reply All - Pepe the Frog
https://gimletmedia.com/episode/77-the-grand-tapestry-of-pepe/

Want a Coding Blocks sticker?
Send us a Self-Addressed-Stamped-Envelope

Clean Code - Drawing!
Oddvar Tengesdal won a copy of Clean Code!

Programming Beyond Practices
http://shop.oreilly.com/product/0636920047391.do

Survey

[yop_poll id="26"]

Formatting

• If your code is a mess, then people will assume that your attention to detail in how the app was coded is also a mess - perception
• Teams should adopt formatting rules and follow them
• Automated tools help with the process
• “Code formatting is important”
• Code formatting has a direct affect on maintainability and extensibility of code over time

Vertical Formatting

• Try to keep max length around 500 lines long and smaller is better - FitNesse app is in this range
• Tomcat and Ant - several thousand lines long and at least half are over 200
• Newspaper metaphor - read it vertically - headlines at the top detail increases as we go down the page
• Separate concepts with blank lines
• Closely associated code should be grouped together so it’s dense
• Concepts (methods) that are closely related should be grouped as closely together as possible to keep from hunting through files
• Variable declarations should be as close to their usage as possible
• If the methods are short, then the variable declarations should be at the top of the function!
• Control variables for loop should be defined within the loop
• Instance variables should be declared at the top of a class
• When one function calls another, those should be close vertically in the file
• Conceptual affinity - when methods do similar things or are named similarly, they should also appear close to each other
• Vertical ordering of methods - the caller should be first, then the callee, and that method’s callee, etc…on down the page

New Survey
New Macbooks
- Death of Macbook Pro?
- The beginning of a new awesome era?

Horizontal Formatting

• How wide should a line be?!
• In the popular projects examined, it appeared that 40% of lines were between 20 and 60 characters
• Another 30% of lines were less than 10 characters…
• Author suggests that beyond 100-120 is careless
• Put spaces on both sides of an assignment operator (equals sign)
• Don’t put spaces between the function name and the parens
• DO put spaces after individual arguments / parameters in a list - shows they are separate
• Also use spacing to indicate the precedence of operations - think of spacing in math equations with several parentheses - author calls it out for order of precedence, I actually don’t like this one - I prefer grouping with parens
• Lining up variable declarations, names, types - found that it was distracting to the “story” of the code….I agree
• Hierarchically lining up code based on it’s scope - super important
• Author would sometimes condense multiple lines into one (like a get; set;) eventually set it back for readability (breaking indentation)
• What about for PRINT statements in SQL???
  while statements - indent the semicolon on the next line…otherwise they’re hidden
• Follow the team’s formatting rules…don’t go vigilante
• He threw in Uncle Bob’s formatting rules

Resources we Like

• Clean Code
  http://amzn.to/2cryvJR

Tip of the Week

• Michael: Chrome Debugging - Break on Attribute Modification
  https://developers.google.com/web/tools/chrome-devtools/javascript/add-breakpoints
• Allen: Enforce code formatting amongst many editors for people on a team - from Gustav in our Slack community
  http://editorconfig.org/
• Joe: Coding Math on Youtube:
  https://www.youtube.com/user/codingmath

This week, Michael fails geography, Allen introduces us to Croom, and Joe has to potty as we head into our third installment of the Clean Code series.

We continue talking our way through Clean Code, taking a deep look at the building blocks of programming in the quest to write the best functions. Oh, and everybody sings.

The original version of the show notes can be found at:
http://www.codingblocks.net/episode48

In this episode, we take our first dive into the book Clean Code by Robert Martin and specifically we talk about writing meaningful names for all things code related.  You'll be amazed at how following some decent rules that you can start naming things that will help you and fellow coders understand your code at a glance.

You can see the original show notes and put your own stamp on our survey here:
http://www.codingblocks.net/episode47

News

Samsung 960 Pro
http://www.anandtech.com/show/10698/samsung-announces-960-pro-and-960-evo-m2-pcie-ssds

SQL Server 2016 Columnstore for real time operational analytics
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn817827.aspx

Krebs site taken off Akamai
http://www.zdnet.com/article/krebs-on-security-booted-off-akamai-network-after-ddos-attack-proves-pricey/

The best Android distribution is iOS?
Outlaw’s thoughts on various phone OS’s

Survey

[yop_poll id="23"]

Meaningful Names - Clean Code Chapter 2

“If a name requires a comment, then the name does not reveal its intent”

• Write explicit code - naming variables and methods can reveal the entire intent of the code
• Avoid using words that would be confusing like “List” as they refer to programming types and could be misleading : accountList should be accounts
• Avoid using characters that look like numbers i and L or capital o
• disinformative vs noninformative
  • noise words “data” “info” - noninformative
• Types should almost never be in a name “table” “string” “object”
• Names should be distinguished so a user can look at them and understand the differences
• Use pronounceable names
• Use searcheable names - longer names trump shorter names
• Author’s pref - single letter names should only be used as local variables inside small methods - length of the name should correspond to the size of its scope
• Avoid encoding names
• Avoid Hungarian Notation with typing as part of the variable name - simply not needed nowadays
• Stop prefixing member (instance) variables with m_ or _
• Decorating Interfaces vs Classes with a prefix / suffix - opinion - he prefers
  • ClassImp or vs IType
• Don’t force someone to map variable names in their mind - n = username…smart programmer vs professional programmer - clarity is king
• Class names should be nouns - English 101 - NOT VERBS
• Method names should be verbs
• Use get, set, is - javabean standard
• When constructors are overloaded, use static factory methods with explicit names - liked this one, possibly make the constructors private
• Don’t get cute with naming by means of jokes (inside or well known)
• Use consistent naming - Get, Set, Controller - makes it easier to understand and code various parts of an application
• Avoid puns - add for a collection vs add for setting a value - two different meanings with the same name
• Use technical names such as pattern names or CS terms in your names - other programmers will understand them better than the problem domain in some cases
• Fall back to the problem domain for a name if there is no suitable technical name
• Adding context to naming can clarify their use - prefixes can work but putting variables into classes may work out better

“Hardest thing about choosing good names is that it requires good descriptive skills and a shared cultural background”

Renaming things that don’t make sense as you work in code is a good thing.

Resources we Like

Clean Code

Even though we’re giving our thoughts on the various ideas throughout the book, Clean Code has tons of excellent sample code that really helps drive the points home. We can’t recommend it enough - it’s probably one of the few books EVERY developer should read and revisit from time to time.
http://amzn.to/2cryvJR

Tip of the Week

Allen: Implementing OAuth in ASP.NET for a number of providers
http://www.oauthforaspnet.com/

Michael: Get out there! Go to conferences, meetups, do it all!
http://www.connect.tech/
https://www.atlantacodecamp.com/2016

Storing smaller subsets of data in a faster, closer memory can make astronomical differences in performance. This episode we're talking about the caching tools and techniques that application frameworks provide.

The original version of the shownotes can be found at:
http://www.codingblocks.net/episode46

 

This week on Coding Blocks, Allen says www as best he can, Joe eats the microphone, and Michael does something crazy as we discuss Stack Overflow's Salary Calculator and our experiences in landing the job - what to do and what not to do.

This time we're talking about problems with nulls, stored procedures, and impostor syndrome.

Link to Episode 43’s Full Show Notes:
http://www.codingblocks.net/episode43

In this episode we go back to the design pattern well that we've been away from for so long.  We cover the Command, Repository and Mediator design patterns.  It was hard for us to believe, but it's been almost a year since our last design patterns episode!!!  Come on in for fun, learning, and of course, our tips of the week.

See the original show notes at:
http://www.codingblocks.net/epsiode42

Leave us a review here:
http://www.codingblocks.net/review

News

Stitcher Reviews:

Spectre013, Christoffer, Genius, HAM3rtag, joe_recursion_joe, Gearhead2k, Manriquey2k, Mike North, AndrewM, MildManneredCalvin, Freeleeks

iTunes Reviews:

Sid Savara, J. Mair, tonicorb, Nmkel999, Eschwartz20, mochadwi, Banjammin, wisco_cmo, NewZeroRiot, Nate_the_DBA, Pauloispaulo

Joe’s chess game!

Joe on Hello Tech Pros

Software Engineering Radio #256 on Unit Testing

!important is a CSS code smell.

Do you name your IIFEs? You should.

This is our 5th, Design Patterns Episode. Last one was in July 2015.

30: Adapter, Facade, and Memento
19: Iterators, Observers, and Chains
16: Strategy, Template, Null Object
11: Factories, Factory Methods, Builder, Prototype

What type of development do you prefer?

Front-End
Back-End
Full Stack

Design Patterns - Command, Repository, and Mediator

Command Pattern

• Encapsulate a request as an object, thereby letting you parameterize clients with different requests, queue or log requests, and support undo.
• It's not "method()" it's "new Object(), and later...object.invoke()
• Why? Nice, clean way of organizing your code. Especially if….
• OO replacement for callbacks - meh
  • Specify, queue, execute
  • Undo
  • Transactions/Logging
  • Not mentioned:
    • Macros
    • Async
• Real World Applications
  • GUI/Menus - copy/paste/undo/photoshop
  • Video Games
    • Age of Empires sent commands rather than the game state!
    • It’s not if("B") { jump(); }, if(input[k]) { input[k].invoke() }
      • Great for different contexts, like menus
  • Parallel / Tasks
    • Async/Await
  • Queues / Multi-Step Wizards
    • Queue up the commands, execute all at once
  • Restaurants????
• How it’s done:
  • Client: Customer
  • Receiver: Waiter
  • I/Command: Order
  • Invoker: Cook
• Great example on sourcemaking.com
• What about callbacks?
• Why not the observer pattern?
• Challenge for the listeners, program the command pattern - do it “by the book”

Repository Pattern

Why?

• Testable with isolated data layer
• Centrally managed access rules and logic
• Centralized caching strategy
• Allows you to separate business logic from data access logic
• Strongly typed entities
• Business entity associations
• Can apply a domain model to simplify business logic
• Decouple business entity from data storage technology - the repository doesn’t expose where it gets its data

What?

• Sits between the data source and the business layer
  • Maps data from the data source to an entity
  • Persists changes from the entity back to the data source
    • Can use the Unit of Work pattern for complex, multi-step operations
  • Typically utilizes a Data Mapper Pattern, or an ORM such as Entity Framework in .NET

Mediator Pattern

What is it?

• The mediator pattern defines an object that encapsulates how a set of objects interact
  • Source: Wikipedia
• Promotes loose coupling by keeping objects from referring to each other explicitly
• Promotes the Single Responsibility Principle by allowing communication to be offloaded to a class that handles just that.
• Similar to the Observer pattern
  • Mediator pattern can be implemented during the observer pattern,
  • The Observer pattern distributes communication by introducing “observer” and “subject” objects.
• Also similar to the Facade pattern in that it abstracts functionality of the classes.

Examples

• Chat room
• Air Traffic Control
• Button events?

Resources We Like

http://gameprogrammingpatterns.com/
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff649690.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396
https://genericunitofworkandrepositories.codeplex.com/
http://blog.falafel.com/implement-step-step-generic-repository-pattern-c/
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/131503/1500_archers_on_a_288_network_.php
https://sourcemaking.com/design_patterns/command
https://sourcemaking.com/design-patterns-book
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/526874/Repository-pattern-done-right
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mediator_pattern
https://sourcemaking.com/design_patterns/mediator
http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/134432/mediator-vs-observer

Tips of this Episode

Allen:

Want a JavaScript tip per day?!
http://www.jstips.co/

Bonus!!!  Want tons of cheap stuff?!
App called "Geek" - download it on iOS or Android

Michael:

Use Nunit's TestCaseSource to test objects in your test cases

How to delete/forget about a wireless network in Win8.1

• netsh wlan show profiles
• netsh wlan delete profile name="gogoinflight"

SOURCE: http://www.digitalcitizen.life/how-delete-forget-wireless-network-profiles-windows-81

Joe:

Learn a new language! Stretch the brain, learn new concepts and see old concepts in a new light! Scripting, Compiled, Functional - Conway’s Game of Life!

This week on Coding Blocks, Joe changes a different kind of string, Allen drools over the Hellcat, and Michael shares his random thoughts. We span a collection of topics including GraphQL framework envy, bash on Windows, and whether it takes two to Django.

Are you an Advanced Programmer? We dig into the final section of Robert Read’s fantastic writing: How to be a programmer. Also, how to cheat at Jira, a lazy butcher and if learning web development is worth it.

Link to Episode 40’s Full Show Notes
http://www.codingblocks.net/episode40

Link to Episode 39's Full Show Notes
http://www.codingblocks.net/episode39

T-Shirt Giveaway - The winner is...
Manrique Logan - please contact us to send us your ship-to information!

This Episode's Survey
Suggested by: https://twitter.com/CatcheNameHere/status/700507429390274560

Princess rap battle: GALADRIEL vs LEIA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RL52R7m8b7w

How to be an Intermediate Programmer

Personal Skills

• How to Stay Motivated
  https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer/blob/master/2-Intermediate/Personal-Skills/01-How%20to%20Stay%20Motivated.md
• How to be Widely Trusted
  https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer/blob/master/2-Intermediate/Personal-Skills/02-How%20to%20be%20Widely%20Trusted.md
• How to Tradeoff Time vs Space
  https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer/blob/master/2-Intermediate/Personal-Skills/03-How%20to%20Tradeoff%20Time%20vs%20Space.md
• How to Stress Test
  https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer/blob/master/2-Intermediate/Personal-Skills/04-How%20to%20Stress%20Test.md
• How to Balance Brevity vs Abstraction
  https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer/blob/master/2-Intermediate/Personal-Skills/05-How%20to%20Balance%20Brevity%20and%20Abstraction.md 

  Shout out to our friend Will - https://twitter.com/iamwillmadison 

• How to Learn New Skills
  https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer/blob/master/2-Intermediate/Personal-Skills/06-How%20to%20Learn%20New%20Skills.md
• Learn to Type
  https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer/blob/master/2-Intermediate/Personal-Skills/07-Learn%20to%20Type.md
• How to Do Integration Testing
  https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer/blob/master/2-Intermediate/Personal-Skills/08-How%20to%20Do%20Integration%20Testing.md
• Communication Languages
  https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer/blob/master/2-Intermediate/Personal-Skills/09-Communication%20Languages.md
• Heavy Tools
  https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer/blob/master/2-Intermediate/Personal-Skills/10-Heavy%20Tools.md
• How to Analyze Data
  https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer/blob/master/2-Intermediate/Personal-Skills/11-How%20to%20analyze%20data.md

Team Skills

• How to Manage Development Time
  https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer/blob/master/2-Intermediate/Team-Skills/01-How%20to%20Manage%20Development%20Time.md
• How to Manage Third Party Software Risks
  https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer/blob/master/2-Intermediate/Team-Skills/02-How%20to%20Manage%20Third-Party%20Software%20Risks.md
• How to Manage Consultants
  https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer/blob/master/2-Intermediate/Team-Skills/03-How%20to%20Manage%20Consultants.md
• How to Communicate the Right Amount
  https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer/blob/master/2-Intermediate/Team-Skills/04-How%20to%20Communicate%20the%20Right%20Amount.md
• How to Disagree Honestly and Get Away with it
  https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer/blob/master/2-Intermediate/Team-Skills/05-How%20to%20Disagree%20Honestly%20and%20Get%20Away%20with%20It.md

Judgement

• How to Tradeoff Quality Against Development Time
  https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer/blob/master/2-Intermediate/Judgment/01-How%20to%20Tradeoff%20Quality%20Against%20Development%20Time.md
• How to Manage Software System Dependence
  https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer/blob/master/2-Intermediate/Judgment/02-How%20to%20Manage%20Software%20System%20Dependence.md
• How to Decide if Software is too Immature
  https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer/blob/master/2-Intermediate/Judgment/03-How%20to%20Decide%20if%20Software%20is%20Too%20Immature.md
• How to Make a Buy vs Build Decision
  https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer/blob/master/2-Intermediate/Judgment/04-How%20to%20Make%20a%20Buy%20vs%20Build%20Decision.md
• How to Grow Professionally
  https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer/blob/master/2-Intermediate/Judgment/05-How%20to%20Grow%20Professionally.md
• How to Evaluate Interviewees
  https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer/blob/master/2-Intermediate/Judgment/06-How%20to%20Evaluate%20Interviewees.md
• How to Know when to apply Fancy Computer Science
  https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer/blob/master/2-Intermediate/Judgment/07-How%20to%20Know%20When%20to%20Apply%20Fancy%20Computer%20Science.md
• How to Talk to Engineers
  https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer/blob/master/2-Intermediate/Judgment/08-How%20to%20Talk%20to%20Non-Engineers.md

Resources We Like

How to be a Programmer: A Short, Comprehensive, and Personal Summary by Robert L Read
Make a Pull Request to get your thoughts in here:
https://github.com/RobertLRead/HowToBeAProgrammer
Or buy your copy here from Amazon:
http://amzn.to/1WzbIxs

Succinctness is Power - Paul Graham
http://www.paulgraham.com/power.html

You Don't Know JS
https://github.com/getify/You-Dont-Know-JS/blob/master/README.md

Want to know how fast you type?
http://www.typingtest.com/

Allen's Typing Speed on the Microsoft Sculpt Ergonomic

http://www.typingtest.com/result.html?acc=100&nwpm=90&gwpm=90&ncpm=452&gcpm=452&dur=60&time=60&chksum=45213&unit=wpm&kh=998&td=null&err=0&hits=452

specflow - Binding business requirements to .NET code
http://www.specflow.org/

 

Tips for this Episode

Allen Underwood: Execution plan for a running query in Microsoft SQL Server
Preface: You can click a button in Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) to see the execution plan of a query to identify any performance problems.  The biggest issue with this is that if there's a query that NEVER returns, or takes an insanely long time to return, then you're stuck waiting for the query to finish.  This tip shows you how to find the ACTUAL (not estimated) query plan of the query that is actively running:

How To:

EXEC sp_who2 'active' -- Find the SPID of the query you're running

DECLARE @spid INT = 123 -- From above

SELECT EQP.query_plan, *
FROM sys.dm_exec_requests AS ER
   CROSS APPLY sys.dm_exec_query_plan(ER.plan_handle) AS EQP
WHERE ER.session_id = @spid

Once that bottom query runs, you'll be provided a link in the results grid that you can click to open up the graphical execution plan.

Michael Outlaw: Have Git ignore changes you make to a specific file like you didn't make the changes, but still have it be part of the tracked files in Git.
Preface: Let's say you have a connection string configuration file that you change to point to your local database.  That config file needs to be tracked in Git, but you don't want your changes to accidentally get committed and pushed up to the remote repo, then this command is for you.

How To:

git update-index /path/to/file --assume-unchanged

Joe Zack: Life Tip -  Pay attention to the warnings in your IDE.  It's easy to get used to seeing several warnings and ignoring them because they're not errors.  Eventually a new one that actually matters will show up and by ignoring it, you could be creating heartache for yourself.  If you can, resolve the warnings that are currently showing up so that if a new one surfaces, it'll jump out at you like a sore thumb.

Talking about the short book "How to be a Programmer", which covers a huge spectrum of important topics for developers of all levels.

We wrapped up 2015 with another favorites of 2015.  This go around it's the tools that we feel are invaluable as developers.  This can be anything from hardware, to software or a service that we feel is integral in our daily needs as programmers.  

If you're on mobile, you can visit the show notes page for this episode by going here:
Episode 37 Show Notes

[yop_poll id="12"]

News and Random Discussions

Are static methods a cod / code smell?

Maybe we should go full on OO and use Microtypes?
http://www.michael-snell.com/2015/03/microtyping-in-java-revisited.html

Win the other pre-worn, gently broken in, gray T-Shirt!  Just leave a comment on this episode!

Nicholas wrote back in Ep. 21 - how is the renaming with ReSharper different than the refactoring option in Visual Studio?
http://www.codingblocks.net/podcast/episode-21-our-favorite-tools/#comment-1987021142

Our Favorite Tools

Individual Picks

Number 5 - Last but not least:
Allen: Simple Mind
Description: Mind mapping tool for getting your ideas out in a somewhat organized state.

Main Site: http://www.simpleapps.eu/simplemind/
Android (free): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.modelmakertools.simplemindfree
Android (paid): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.modelmakertools.simplemindpro
Apple iOS (free): https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=305727658&mt=8
Apple iOS (paid): https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=378174507&mt=8

Michael:  UBlock Origin
Description: An ad-blocking plugin for various browsers that allows your web experience to be much faster and less intrusive by ad-agencies.

Main Site: https://www.ublock.org/
Chrome Plugin: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/ublock-origin/cjpalhdlnbpafiamejdnhcphjbkeiagm?hl=en
Mozilla Plugin: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/ublock-origin/
Apple iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/purify-blocker-fast-clutter/id1030156203?ls=1&mt=8

Joe: Gliphy
Description: Workflow diagrams, wireframes, mockups, etc., all online.  Integrates with Atlassian products extremely nicely for wikis, Jira tickets, etc.
Main Site: https://www.gliffy.com/

#4
Allen: Codecademy
Description: Learn how to code for FREE - Interactively!  HTML, CSS, Javascript, Ruby, Python, PHP and more.  Go there...now...

Main Site: https://www.codecademy.com/

Michael: .NET Fiddle
Description: Site that allows you to write your .NET code online in a web browser, similar to JSFiddle, execute and share your code

Main Site: https://dotnetfiddle.net/

Joe: Office 365
Description: There are several subscription options so you'd definitely want to make sure you're picking the one that's right for you.  For personal (one person) use, the cost is (currently either $69.99/year or $6.99/month and you get access to Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher and Access on PC / Mac plus one phone and a tablet.  For family use, you'd probably want to go with the "Home" plan as you get all the same perks as the "Personal" plan times 5 for just $9.99/month or $99.99/year.  So that means you get to install Office on up to 5 PCs or Macs, five tablets, and five phones.  And you also get 1TB of storage per user, for a total of 5TB of cloud storage.

Office 365 Personal (individual user): https://products.office.com/en-us/office-365-personal
Office 365 Home (for 5 users): https://products.office.com/en-us/office-365-home

#3
Allen: Netgear R7000 AC1900
Description: Rock solid, great performing wireless router.

Product Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F0DD0I6/?tag=codingblocks-20

Michael: Hours Tracker
Description: Especially useful for freelancers or consultants, this application allows you to track your hours worked with a ton of features: geofencing, tagging, switching projects, multiple rates, multiple clients.

Main Site: http://www.hourstrackerapp.com/
Apple iOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hourstracker-time-tracking/id336456412?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cribasoft.HoursTrackerFree.Android&hl=en

Joe: JQuery Injector
Description: Chrome plugin that allows you to interact programmatically with a web page - basically friendly hacking to achieve things that maybe weren't meant to be achieved.

Main Site: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/jquery-injector/indebdooekgjhkncmgbkeopjebofdoid

#2
Allen: Snagit
Description: For both Mac and PC, this is an excellent utility for taking and marking up your screenshots with some easy to use tools and you can even record your screen which can be saved off in standard video formats that are easily shared.  NOTE: You cannot edit the videos as with a ScreenFlow or a Camtasia, but it's great for quick little recordings for how-to's or to demonstrate problems.

Main Site: https://www.techsmith.com/snagit.html

Michael: Briggs & Riley Verb Backpack
Description: Excellent laptop bag especially for those who travel a lot for their work.  It holds up remarkably well, comes with a Lifetime warranty and is attractive to boot.  This bag has a ton of features that are made to help expedite your trip through airports.

Product Link: http://www.amazon.com/Briggs-Riley-Advance-Backpack-Black/dp/B016JQUYMM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1451846799&sr=8-3&keywords=briggs+and+riley+verb&tag=codingblocks-20
More Information: http://www.briggs-riley.com/shop/collections/verb/advance-backpack-1

Joe: FitBit
Description: Turn your fitness into a bit of a game to help you stay active.  If you've not heard of this company, you're probably living in a box, but Joe definitely stands behind this product as something that motivates him to get his daily activity in.

Product Link: http://www.amazon.com/Fitbit-Wireless-Activity-Sleep-Tracker/dp/B0095PZHPE/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1451847290&sr=8-8&keywords=fitbit&tag=codingblocks-20

#1 - Our top individual picks
Allen: MeteorJS
Description: An isomorphic approach to applications.  It's a full stack javascript application framework - write your Server, Client and Middleware in Javascript.  It's so quick and easy to get up and running that it's really not fair to compare it to any other "frameworks" out there.  It's done incredibly well.

Main Site: https://www.meteor.com/

Michael: WebStorm by JetBrains
Description: Web development IDE that has evolved incredibly well with the latest JavaScript frameworks.  It supports many of the latest frameworks, it's cross platform (PC, Mac and Linux), has a ton of useful development features and is relatively speedy.  Also, they've updated their buying options so it starts at $60/year for individuals and is well worth the price of entry.

Product Link: https://www.jetbrains.com/webstorm/

Joe: Spotify
Description: One of the many streaming music services around, but arguably one of the best.  They have a HUGE selection of music.  If you're a subscriber you get access to their higher bit-rate streams for the audiophiles at heart.  As a developer, is there anything more necessary than some tunes to help you tune out everything around you and make some killer progress on your task at hand?

Main Site: https://www.spotify.com/

Group Picks

Number 5: Gulp
Description: A Javascript tool made to enhance and automate your workflow.  Works by piping output to other tasks and is configured by writing simple code pipelines.  Not only that, but there is a rather large library of tasks written for Gulp that can allow you to do most of what you could possibly want.

Main Site: http://gulpjs.com/
Plugin Site: http://gulpjs.com/plugins/

Number 4: NUnit
Description: A unit testing framework for all .NET languages.  Originally a port from JUnit, but has since been rewritten specifically for the .NET framework.  Why we picked this over MSTest - simply put: parameterized tests.

Main Site: http://www.nunit.org/

Number 3: JSFiddle
Description: Similar to Michael's pick for dotnetfiddle, JSFiddle provides you a place online where you can write some Javascript in the browser and share that code with a URL that's created for you.  This is an excellent way to share examples or help others out with working examples of Javascript code.  One of the downsides of JSFiddle is the lack of ability to create multiple files which means it's difficult to show structure along with code samples.

Main Site: https://jsfiddle.net/

Number 2: The Book - Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software 
Description: Still in its first printing, the book includes 23 of the classic design patterns with context as to what the uses are as well as clear code examples.

Product Link: http://www.codingblocks.net/get/gang-of-four-book

Our Consensus Top Pick: Slack
Description: Productivity enhancing as well as time wasting service, Slack is a means of communicating with teams of folks quickly and easily.  Not only is it a great chat platform, it has a ton of useful (and fun) plugins for enhancing your work environment.  An example would be the Visual Studio Online plugin where you can see when a particular branch of code has been updated.  

Main Site: https://slack.com

OUR Slack Channel!  https://codingblocks.slack.com/

Come Join in on the conversation!

Resources We Like

Beyond Legacy Code: Nine Practices to Extend the Life (and Value) of Your Software
Product Link: http://amzn.to/1JtdMzR

Tips for this Episode

Allen: ProgrammableWeb.com - Well known public API's for developers
http://www.programmableweb.com/apis/directory

Michael: Find your mouse - for those with too much monitor real estate!
Mac El Capitan - Just shake your mouse around and it shows up nice and big!
PC Windows - Go into your mouse properties in the control panel, and select "Show location of pointer when pressing the control key" - doing this will allow you to locate your mouse by clicking the control key and a ring will radiate from the mouse pointer.

ApexSQL Refactor - format your SQL within Management Studio for SQL Server
http://www.apexsql.com/sql_tools_refactor.aspx

Use the FORCESEEK Luke - Index hint for SQL Server Queries
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb510478(v=sql.105).aspx

Use the Index Luke - SQL Tips and Tricks
http://use-the-index-luke.com/

Joe: Indigo Studio by Infragistics - Rapid prototyping tool - Wireframing on steroids!
http://www.infragistics.com/products/indigo-studio

Has support for different resolutions so you can see how your app behaves.Also has really nice support for behaviors, swiping here navigates, or double clicking changes the page. Much better than getting psd! Also has a timeline so it’s easier to see the relationship between frames automatically
Alternatives:
http://www.justinmind.com/
http://www.axure.com/