Petru Dolhescu

Have you ever needed to check if a string is a palindrome in your C# code? A palindrome is a word, phrase, number, or other sequence of characters that reads the same forward and backward. For example, "racecar" is a palindrome. In this blog post, I'll show you how to write a C# extension method to check if a string is a palindrome. An extension method is a special kind of static method that allows you to add new methods to existing types without modifying the original type. Here's the code snippet for the IsPalindrome extension method: public static bool IsPalindrome(this string input) { string normalized = input.ToLower(); int length = normalized.Length; for (int i = 0; i < length / 2; i++) { if (normalized[i] != normalized[length-1-i]) { return false; } } return true; } Let's break down how this method works. First, we create a normalized copy of the input string by converting it to lowercase. This allows u

In today's software development world, creating maintainable, extensible, and testable code is essential. One of the keys to achieving these goals is decoupling components, which means reducing the interdependencies between different parts of an application. In this blog post, we will explore how to decouple components in C# applications using Mediator and MediatR. Mediator Design Pattern The Mediator pattern is a behavioral design pattern that enables communication between different components of an application without them having direct references to one another. In this pattern, a mediator object acts as an intermediary between components, allowing them to communicate without being aware of each other's existence. The mediator encapsulates the interaction logic, making it easier to change or extend it without affecting the rest of the application. MediatR Library MediatR is an open-source library for .NET that implements the Mediator pattern. It provides a simple, lightw

Related data loading is an important aspect of working with Entity Framework Core. It allows you to retrieve and manipulate data from related entities using navigation properties. There are three common patterns for loading related data: eager, explicit, and lazy loading. In this post, we will explore each of these patterns in detail, along with their pros and cons. Eager Loading Eager loading is a pattern where the related data is loaded from the database as part of the initial query. This means that all the required data is loaded upfront and can be accessed without making additional database queries. To use eager loading in Entity Framework Core, you can use the Include() method to specify which related entities to load. Here's an example: using (var context = new BloggingContext()) { var blogs = context.Blogs .Include(blog => blog.Posts) .ToList(); } This code retrieves all the blogs from the database along with their related posts using eager loading

I recently took the Learning Docker course on LinkedIn taught by Carlos Nunez. The course covered a wide range of topics related to Docker, including its basic concepts, networking, and Docker Compose. Along the way, I picked up some valuable best practices that I would like to share with you. 1. Use verified images for enhanced security When using Docker, you will likely download various images from Docker Hub. While this is a flexible and easy way to work with Docker, it is also easy to download images that could be harmful to your systems or business. For example, malicious images can be used to steal credentials or launch attacks on your infrastructure. To mitigate this risk, I recommend using Docker Hub images that are verified. Verified images have an official Docker image designation that indicates they are scanned and vetted by Docker themselves. One such image is Ubuntu, which has its designation prominently displayed on Docker Hub. However, keep in mind that there are still p