As .NET developers, we spend a lot of time with tools. EF Core’s dotnet ef is one of the most familiar examples. It is a command line tool that feels natural to use, but it can also raise questions.

Do I always need to make my app a console app? Should I build a .NET tool instead? And what about DNX, the new one-shot option coming in .NET 10?

On June 11, I got an email from Jeffrey Palermo’s executive assistant, Miranda. The invite was simple: be a guest on the Azure & DevOps Podcast.

I have been active in the Clear Measure Architect Forums for about a year now. These monthly meetings are small, packed with top-level experts, and always full of relevant industry discussion. Large language models have been a hot topic almost every time, but the real value for me has been hearing what others are experiencing in their companies and getting practical guidance from brilliant guests. I have attended regularly, and I think my presence there may have put me on Jeffrey’s radar.

Note: This guide applies to legacy ASP.NET Framework applications that use Web.config. ASP.NET Core projects use appsettings.json and environment-based configuration, which follow a different transformation approach.

Resource: ASP.NET Web Deployment using Visual Studio: Web.config File Transformations

I bought this domain in April because my deep-dive notes never seem to stick. I'll obsess over a topic, document every detail, feel sure I will remember, and six months later draw a blank. Too many evenings vanish rebuilding knowledge I already earned.

Everything clicked in June while I was preparing for a guest slot on the Azure & DevOps Podcast. I spun up a simple Azure Static Web App, let the portal scaffold a GitHub Actions workflow, and tried the preview of OpenAI Codex. One prompt, one build, and a blank page suddenly displayed a smooth CSS animation. The rush felt like my first ChatGPT session. From that moment this site became my public tech diary, a single place to keep my research and, if my notes save you a few hours, even better.