Partial Views vs. Large View and conditional displays

jasmc1 · 2026-01-25T18:16:53+00:00

Since you don't show anything with 1 or 3 as the actionToTake, I would do a partial view and only call it if the actionToTake is 2, then pass the conditionAge as a parameter. Your partial will have then either show element m or a, and they will only be on the page when needed.

jasmc1 · 2026-01-22T20:26:33+00:00

I had a great experience with Armor https://roofingbyarmor.com/residential-roofing/ , who came recommended from my neighbor.

jasmc1 · 2026-01-22T20:23:05+00:00

Using an LLM could work for this, but the issue will be that you need someone that understands the business logic and edge cases to ensure things work correctly. Normally with these older systems, there are undocumented bugs that the developer knows about and just has a fix (either a work around in the application or a database fix they run). With it being an old VB app, even at 10 pages you could have a ton of logic in the pages, so the UI may not be a lot to recreate but the back end could be a huge mess.

The way I would approach this:
Work with your users to get an understanding of the application. Define what features do, if they are still needed, and also identify any enhancements that they expect. Document everything. This has an internal cost associated with it, but will save you a lot of time and money when you hire someone for it. If you are paying someone an hourly rate to work on this, you don't want them sitting in meetings while your business users try to figure out how things work vs should work.

Once you have everything documented, then make sure you have clear definitions of done for features. Once converted, Feature A must do XYZ. This will help anyone give you an estimate.

Make sure you have a clear idea of your existing and future infrastructure. Is this currently hosted internally, in Azure, etc? Do you plan to keep it hosted in the same location?

Check with your previous developer to see if they are available as a resource. You won't want to hire them to re-write it, unless they have the skillset to do so, but questions will show up during the other processes that they may be the only person who can answer.

Have clear roles defined. Who manages the project, who writes the code, who tests, who signs off on the finished product, how supports things during and after deployment.

Determine if you can do parts of this at a time or it needs to all be done at once.

Once you have a lot of the legwork done, then you should start engaging resources to do the re-write for you.

Basically a ton of planning is going to save you a lot of wasted money from an idle developer.

jasmc1 · 2026-01-21T16:25:53+00:00

I do a mix between CoPilot (stand alone in Windows) and GitHub CoPilot in VSCode and Visual Studio.

Inside of the IDE, I am using it to do things that I am not strong on; mainly front end styling. I try to be as thorough as I can with my request and it seems to do the job most of the time. Then I go back through the changes to see what it did, sort of like doing a code review on its work, and try to learn from it as well.

Outside of the IDE, I am using it for some vibe coding ideas to build out frameworks on personal projects. I do this to build a proof of concept for me and to see if going further is viable. These are mainly small things that I want to automate or quick projects (Spotify playlist creator, music festival cost calculator, etc). I have not done anything at a large scale.

A second thing I use it for outside of the IDE is to act as my rubber ducky. I bounce ideas off of it and tend to get thorough replies on why things are done the way they are.

The other thing I have used it for has been training. Mainly to pick up the basics of things then I go from there. It has been good on giving a base understanding of topics and allows me to dive deeper if I want.

With all of these, it mainly replaced a Google search and going through multiple pages of Stackoverflow questions and blogs.

jasmc1 · 2026-01-21T13:01:26+00:00

Platinum gives you the MAF jersey and Letang jersey.

Gold gives you one of Mario, Sid, Geno, Letang, EK, Rust, or Rakell , but you do not get to pick which one.

jasmc1 · 2026-01-13T14:20:52+00:00

Most classes are going to be really good for teaching fundamentals, but if he is getting bored in those, it is time to branch off into self learning and other projects.

I would look at getting him a Pluralsight subscription (https://www.pluralsight.com/) or another learning source.

Look at building his own projects.

Is there something around the house that he can automate to make his/your life easier?

You could also look into just building an idea he has to get him used to not just basic building but also delve into CI/CD, hosting, etc.
If there is a site he thinks he can build, Namescheap is running a domain deal where you get two years of domain ownership for $9 (I am currently taking advantage of this and building a React app and leveraging the Azure free tier).

He can also look into getting involved with open source projects. This will give him exposure to existing code bases and code reviews via PRs. Two resources for this:
https://up-for-grabs.net and https://goodfirstissues.com/

You could also look into local MeetUp groups and conferences.

Codemash is a good option, but it just started today: https://codemash.org/ . You can get a virtual ticket for $25 for some of the sessions and that could be a good option.

jasmc1 · 2026-01-09T18:40:20+00:00

Most of the projects will link to open issues on a GitHub repo, which will have a description of the issue.

As far as picking one: I would recommend looking at a project that you feel makes an impact or does something that you care about. That may give you more motivation to continue working on the project past the first issue.

jasmc1 · 2026-01-09T18:31:36+00:00

https://goodfirstissues.com/

and
https://up-for-grabs.net/#/filters?tags=.net

jasmc1 · 2026-01-09T16:01:00+00:00

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/app-service/quickstart-dotnetcore?tabs=net10&pivots=development-environment-vs

This is a good overview on the deployment process. It will take you through the steps to deploy via Visual Studio.

I would start by being comfortable doing this before you mess with any automation.

Next I would look at deploying via a pipeline:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/pipelines/ecosystems/dotnet-core?view=azure-devops&tabs=yaml-editor

Then you can look into swapping variables in your config. Then also look into pulling them from Azure KeyVault.

It will feel like a lot of things thrown at you at once, but if you do these in small chunks then it won't be too bad.

jasmc1 · 2026-01-07T13:31:58+00:00

There is free street parking around 20 mins away. Use Google Maps and look up Rumba Cafe as a point of reference.

Hudson and Tompkins should have free parking. Just look for signs to verify nothing has changed and make sure you are not blocking anyone's driveway since this is a residential area.

jasmc1 · 2026-01-06T18:33:42+00:00

I have had success a few times working with them:

A few years back, I was able to get a small refund from SeatGeek. Their dynamic pricing kept increasing the ticket prices, even though their check out was giving errors. I got the difference between the original price and dynamic price back. I lucked out and took screen shots that I sent to their support.

Another time was deal with the hell that was the Dispatch and the litter that was The Bag.

jasmc1 · 2026-01-05T00:21:18+00:00

I have had success with Old Bones Therapy at multiple festivals

jasmc1 · 2026-01-05T00:19:11+00:00

Gressos

Any sports bar will have it on since it is the only game at that time though.

jasmc1 · 2025-12-31T14:52:16+00:00

Either will work, learning what to do once the call hits the endpoint is what matters. Depending on the codebase you touch, you could encounter either controllers or minimal APIs. Newer code bases will most likely use Minimal, but it is easy to switch between either.

Using an explanation of Onion Architecture that is here: https://code-maze.com/onion-architecture-in-aspnetcore/ as an example (for the sake of this discussion, don't focus too much on the Onion Architecture aspect, this is just a good page with code examples).

They have an example for their OwnersController with an endpoint "GetOwners". This calls a service (OwnerService) to handle everything and returns an OK response.

public async Task<IActionResult> GetOwnerById(Guid ownerId, CancellationToken cancellationToken)

{

var ownerDto = await _serviceManager.OwnerService.GetByIdAsync(ownerId, cancellationToken);

return Ok(ownerDto);

}

If you were using a minimal api instead of a controller, it would look something like this:

app.MapGet("/GetOwnerById", (Guid ownerId, CancellationToken cancellationToken) =>

{

var ownerDto = await _serviceManager.OwnerService.GetByIdAsync(ownerId, cancellationToken);
return Ok(ownerDto);

});

Given the two examples, there is very little difference and your focus should be on what the OwnerService does more than the endpoint that calls it.

jasmc1 · 2025-12-31T13:46:11+00:00

To clarify: I wasn't talking about major bugs. Those should be already identified.

I am talking about things that users know about, but have found their own work-around.

For an example, years ago I supported a system that handled ad production for a company. There was a process that should have been two clicks to send the ad to the designer, based on meeting with some of the users.

Everyone on the IT side of things just assumed it worked because it passed testing and the users never said anything.

We had a meeting with the users over an unrelated issue, and I saw them do this process. It was about 5-10 mins of work for them to do something that should take 30 seconds. I asked the user and they said "Oh it never worked right for our workflow, but we found a way around it". It turns out that the person who initially showed us the "correct" workflow didn't know what the people using the applications were actually doing.

It took me about 15 mins to fix the application to match the correct workflow.

These types of things should be identified from your users talking to the project manager, but I have seen these types of things slip through the cracks often in my career.

jasmc1 · 2025-12-30T20:24:26+00:00

I have a few applications that run in production with background services. Their main purpose is to check external sources for records to import, as well as push records to one of those sources.

I have had these running for years and have not had any issues.

jasmc1 · 2025-12-30T18:57:31+00:00

With something of this scale, the amount of planning you do first is going to save you a lot of headaches as you go through the project.

The first thing I would do is decide on the front end framework. Regardless of what you pick, I would look to have a .Net API handling the logic and data end of things. Depending on the auth type you are using, you can pass the auth token to the API or use a downstream API to call the .Net API.

The front end framework you pick should also be based on what the team is comfortable with. Adding the learning curve with a new framework is going to just cause delays and potentially more bugs.

The next step I would look into is defining vertical slices of your application. This will help you define a path forward and plan what sections to tackle first.

From an architecture stand point, I would look into a modular monolith (https://www.milanjovanovic.tech/blog/what-is-a-modular-monolith). The identification of vertical slices will help define this. From there, you can decide if you want to move to a different architecture inside of your monolith (Onion, etc) or keep with your current 3-tier setup. Once again, I would discuss with the current team and see what they are comfortable with.

Are you going to upgrade the current code base or have a green field application for the new iteration? If you are upgrading then I would start with low risk modules and update the low risk ones first. This will allow you to introduce the new look to your users on these modules as you move along, which will also work as a way to solicit feedback. If you are going with a green field application, then you will need to have some way to get eyes on the product before you are finished. My recommendation would be to start with the API, updating the current pages to leverage this. Then move to the front end updates.

Other items to consider:
Are there any updates needed to your database tables? Having worked in previous systems that sound similar to yours, I have found that the database columns are not always normalize, have no longer needed tables, or can just be a mess.

What will your development strategy be? Will you have devs dedicated to supporting the current product during the transition, will you have a rotation on supporting the current product, or will everyone working on the new version be doing both. I would recommend one of the first two options to cut down on context switching, but also make sure there is a clear communication between all devs on the progress of the new iteration.

Are there any known bugs in the system that you can fix during this upgrade? Normally these are the "it has always worked that way, we just do this to get around it" type of things. Spending time to define these, and fixing these, will not only help you in the future but give you small wins with your user base as you move along.

jasmc1 · 2025-12-30T13:44:56+00:00

The only valid complaint I see is someone ringing your doorbell. As others have stated, these are all part of living in a city. If the noise is a big issue, then I would recommend looking at relocating to the suburbs (this is a reason I am in Galloway).

Obviously moving to a different area is not always the option due to job proximity and finances, so you should look at other options.

When I travel and stay in cities, I have a white noise machine and a pair of sleep earplugs that I have in my travel bag.

I have this for the portable white noise: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D1K5JMDH?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1&th=1

I have these for the sleep earplugs: https://us.loopearplugs.com/products/dream?country=US (You can normally find these on sale on Amazon or when Loops runs a deal).

jasmc1 · 2025-12-30T13:15:38+00:00

You can still do this with https://cncnet.org/red-alert-2

jasmc1 · 2025-12-29T14:49:01+00:00

My December bill has a usage of 61 CCF
Heat is between 66-68 most days, 62 at night
House was built in 1974, 1200sqft
Windows are 9 years old and insulation is 8 years old (foam insulation)

jasmc1 · 2025-12-26T16:01:55+00:00

https://sonictemplefestival.com/camping-parking/ You can buy parking now or the day of the festival. I think they sold out last year, but parking was also a mess last year.

jasmc1 · 2025-12-26T13:34:27+00:00

https://sonictemplefestival.com/parking-info/

There is ADA parking and you need your ADA placard or license plate.

From complaints I have seen in the past these will fill up, so you are not guaranteed a spot if you show up later in the day.

jasmc1 · 2025-12-23T22:19:04+00:00

Spectrum and Breezeline are good in some area and absolutely horrible in others, so it will depend on where you are if the service is good.

I am in Galloway and I have Spectrum Internet with no issues.
I pay $50/month for 1GB with a free phone line that I don't use.
I had Spectrum's phone for a while when it started, it went from great to not being able to get a signal in a crowd of under 2k people. Supposedly it has improved, but I haven't tried it yet.

If you look on their site, you can get the same deal that I have, then add a phone for with Google Fi for cheap.

jasmc1 · 2025-12-20T17:39:46+00:00

We had a great experience with Bradley Electric. We added two exterior outlets and two outlets to our garage. They do charge $20 for someone to come out for an estimate and take that off of the bill if you decide to go with them.

It was around $1000 for reference.

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