Table of contents for Jan/Feb 2026 in CODE Magazine

A few weeks ago, while driving around listening to podcasts, I came across one where they were discussing great documentaries. I immediately turned the radio up, as the documentary is one of my favorite genres of film. This particular podcast mentioned a documentary on Netflix called “The Remarkable Life of Ibelin,” and was described by the host as a bunch of friends recreating a late friend’s life from his time playing World of Warcraft. This description really caught my attention and as soon as I possibly could, I dug up the film on Netflix that described this documentary as “The secret life of a young World of Warcraft gamer is vividly reimagined when his online friends contact his family after his death.” There were going to be more details about…

Over the last 24 years, C# has evolved a lot. Think about all the essential C# language features that have been added: generics (C# 2.0), object and collection initializers (C# 3.0), named and optional function arguments (C# 4.0), and async await (C# 5.0), not to mention extension methods, tasks, lambda expressions, anonymous types, auto-properties, tuples, and pattern-matching switch expressions. All of these were introduced after C# 1.0 and all of them have made C# better. csharpartisan@gmail.com YouTube: @csharpartisan Matthew Hess is a Microsoft MVP and software engineer from Albuquerque, NM. Matthew got his start programming using Borland’s Delphi IDE and has been working with C# and the .NET Framework since version 2. Matthew has developed software for many different industries from legal, to financial services, to biotechnology to non-profit. Matthew…

For years, Angular developers have relied on its CLI: ng new, ng generate, ng build, and ng test. These commands defined how Angular applications were scaffolded, configured, and maintained. The CLI has long been one of Angular’s greatest strengths, a tool that brings order to complexity by generating files from standardized templates, ensuring that every new project starts from the same solid foundation. Over time, new developer experiences emerged on top of it. Tools such as Angular Console, Visual Studio Code extensions, and WebStorm integrations provided visual interfaces for running the same schematics. Developers could click a “Generate Component” button instead of typing ng generate component, but under the hood, each of these tools still executed the same CLI commands. They made the experience more approachable, yet they never changed…

Before setting off on any creative quest, you must choose the right weapon. A warhammer can deliver massive impact— reality-bending moments that shock and awe the enemy with sheer might. The reliable and versatile short sword democratizes combat, opening the battlefield to warriors both veteran and new. And the exotic wizard’s staff? It performs feats no conventional tool can match, reserved for creators daring enough to master its strange design. By late 2025, the arsenal of weapons available at a creator’s disposal had become mind-boggling. What do you choose? How will you enter combat? What weapons will guarantee victory? The AI video generation race continued to evolve from experimental novelty into legitimate production infrastructure, so these aren’t just gimmicks. These video models were formidable (and a little dangerous). As of…

I read it on the internet so it must be true. Let’s be honest, not everything on the internet is true. Throughout my career, I’ve learned that the higher up you go, the more credible you need to be. For example, when I’m talking with the top management, they expect to-the-point accurate answers, and they expect you to back up your assumptions with citations if necessary. www.winsmarts.com @sahilmalik Sahil Malik is a Microsoft MVP, INETA speaker, a .NET author, consultant, and trainer. Sahil loves interacting with fellow geeks in real time. His talks and trainings are full of humor and practical nuggets. His areas of expertise are cross-platform Mobile app development, Microsoft anything, and security and identity. It’s not that they don’t trust you, it’s just that the internet is…

Many .NET developers think of the “Microsoft Stack,” which implies the kinds of data stores we should use. That means SQL Server has been the one and only database that many of us have used. PostgreSQL is a database that has a long opensource history going back to 1997. It’s about time that many .NET developers took a look at this powerful and free database. shawn@wildermuth.com wildermuth.com @shawnwildermuth Shawn Wildermuth has been tinkering with computers and software since he got a Vic-20 back in the early ’80s. As a Microsoft MVP since 2003, he’s also involved with Microsoft as an ASP. NET Insider and ClientDev Insider. He’s the author of over twenty Pluralsight courses, written eight books, an international conference speaker, and one of the Wilder Minds. You can reach…

Traditional monolithic systems are quickly giving way to more modern approaches. Distributed architectures are taking over to tackle the challenges and complexities of modern businesses. These applications typically involve services that can cater to the changing business requirements in this fast-paced technological world and work seamlessly together. However, that’s not the whole picture. These distributed systems often continue to rely on a single technology stack or programming language, which can become insufficient to handle the complexities of business operations. joydipkanjilal@yahoo.com Joydip Kanjilal is an MVP (2007-2012), software architect, author, and speaker with more than 20 years of experience. He has more than 16 years of experience in Microsoft .NET and its related technologies. Joydip has authored eight books, more than 500 articles, and has reviewed more than a dozen books.…

I used to be surprised at the shoddy state of data in even the largest of companies. Now I’m disturbingly used to it. Even within the Fortune 500, only a minority of companies have a solid handle on their data. Getting a handle on data is a very difficult thing to do. Data tends to end up in fragmented data estates, siloed in various systems with each system being responsible for its own security, compliance auditing, providing interfaces, access control, and more, as seen in Figure 1. Mergers and acquisitions add even more systems, often duplicated systems, to the collection. Unstructured documents, such as PDFs and Teams chats, aren’t even part of the calculations. In large organizations, there are often hundreds or thousands of siloed systems with dozens or hundreds…