.NET Rocks!

How do you build quality software with LLMs? Carl and Richard talk to Den Delimarsky about the GitHub Spec Kit, which uses specifications to help LLMs generate code for you. Den discusses the iterative process of refining specifications to produce better code, and then being able to add your own code without disrupting the process. The conversation delves into this new style of software development, utilizing specifications to break down tasks sufficiently for LLMs to be successful, and explores the limitations that exist today.

What's coming for GitHub? Carl and Richard talk to April Yoho about the recent announcements from GitHub Universe and how they will roll out in 2025. The biggest topic, of course, is all the large language models coming to GitHub - there are a bunch of copilots! April talks about original GitHub Copilot, Copilot Workspace, and Copilot Chat - so many options! Now, you can choose your language model to move beyond OpenAI. And there are other changes at GitHub, including EU residency, new features in the enterprise cloud, and new instrumentation - 2025 looks awesome!

GitHub is about so much more than source control! While at Build, Carl and Richard chatted with Damian Brady about all the great things coming out of GitHub over the past few years, including Copilot and now Copilot Workspaces. The conversation digs into how large language models are changing how you write code and some idea of what things could be like in the future. Damian also digs into the more enterprise-centric features like Software Bill of Materials and effective sponsorship of projects. GitHub is the locus of development for many companies, and the tooling continues to expand to make things easier!

Do you understand how your APIs are being used? Carl and Richard talk to Anthony Alaribe about his experiences dealing with poorly documented APIs that need updates - but no breaking changes! Anthony tells a story about missing a use case for an API that cost a lot of money, which started him down the path to making APItoolkit.io. The toolkit allows you to see how your API is being used and any exceptions that are happening. It will also generate tests to validate that your new version won't cause problems! Check it out!

Azure and GitHub - better together? While at the Copenhagen Developer Festival, Carl and Richard talked to April Edwards for a special .NET Rocks Live. April talked about how Azure and GitHub work well together, discussing Azure DevOps and GitHub Actions on the CI/CD pipeline side and how other services can interact. Lots of laughter and great questions from the live audience!

How do you secure your existing applications from the security exploits out there today? Carl and Richard talk to Joylynn Kirui about the challenges developers face in making secure applications. Joylynn talks about understanding the threat landscape and staying up to date on the CVEs that can represent a zero-day vulnerability to your application. There are a ton of tools to help make you aware of the potential risks, check out all the links in the show notes. And check out Joylynn's webinar on shifting application security left at https://aka.ms/DevSecOpsDNR

Why should .NET developers build Power Apps? Carl and Richard talk to April Dunnam about the latest in Microsoft's Power Platform and why .NET developers should get involved. April talks about the fusion development methodology, where domain experts use the Power Platform tools alongside .NET developers using Visual Studio to build line-of-business apps. There are many opportunities in the cycle of building Power Apps where your skills as a .NET developer can make the process go faster, more reliable, and with more features! Also, check out April's upcoming workshops on building Power Apps online at https://aka.ms/PowerDNR and at the DevIntersection conference in Las Vegas in December!

How has the cloud changed data analytics? Carl and Richard chat with Vishwas Lele about his latest work taking a developer's view of data analytics - without upsetting the DBAs too much! Vishwas talks about how the cloud has changed bringing disparate data sources together for analytics. With the cloud's compute-on-demand, you don't need to do many transformations of data as it's loaded - but you can test it! This leads to a conversation of how CI/CD techniques can be applied to data to make for accurate data analytics - make your ingestion pipeline smart!

Bring the fight to the hackers with some clever code! Carl and Richard talk to Dana Epp about honeytokens - adding code and elements to your applications that are there only to attract bad actors. Dana talks about how hackers attack applications, looking for vulnerabilities. Often those attempts take weeks or even months and are hard to detect in regular logs. By adding code that would only run if an attacker was trying to exploit, you can raise a red flag to your security team early and take action before the attackers are successful. Have a listen, then chat (preferably over pizza) with your security folks about how you can help!

Are you using open-source libraries in your enterprise applications or products? What are the consequences? Carl and Richard talk to Rocky Lhotka about his work with organizations coming to grips with the use of open-source code in their projects. What happens if the project goes away? What if there is malware added to the code intentionally or accidentally? What about plagiarism of code? Diligence around the origin of code is important, whether it is open-source or not - and should be part of your build process!