Mono Blog

Why Doesn't IEnumerable Have a ForEach Method?

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Wed, 03 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In C#, types like List (and others such as ImmutableList) include a convenient ForEach method. It can be seen as a more functional-style alternative to the traditional foreach loop. For example:

A Tour of Hash Functions: From MD5 to Argon2 and Beyond

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Wed, 06 May 2026 00:00:00 GMT

In a previous article, we explored the topic of salted password hashing. This time, we'll expand on that by taking a broader look at the world of hash functions.

Why You Must Salt and Hash Passwords: A Journey to Secure Storage

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT

The topic of salting and hashing passwords is a fundamental concept in security, but why is it so crucial? This article will guide you through the evolution of password storage, from insecure to...

Advanced XML Parsing: A Performance Duel Between LINQ, XPath, and Regex

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Sun, 15 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Continuing our exploration from last time, let's dive deeper into the surprising performance differences in XML parsing. Our sample XML remains the same, provided by W3Schools:

Fields vs. Properties: Why Not Just Use Public Fields in C#?

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Mon, 09 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

When writing C# code, we frequently define auto-properties like this:

Efficient XML Parsing in C#: A Performance Comparison

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT

I recently encountered a task at work involving reading and writing XML, which led me to explore the performance implications of different approaches. I'd like to share my findings with you.

Why ValueTask? A Guide to C#'s Performance-Oriented Task Alternative

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Mon, 22 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Since C# 5.0 introduced the async and await keywords, asynchronous programming has become remarkably simple. The Task type has played a crucial role in this paradigm, becoming a ubiquitous part of...

Improving Thread Communication in .NET: Moving Beyond Flags and Polling

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Sun, 23 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT

In multi-threaded development, we often use flags and polling to control execution logic within threads. However, this approach reduces code readability and maintainability while lacking elegance....

Deep Dive into .NET 8 WebApplication: Architecture and Components

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Fri, 31 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT

WebApplication is used to configure the HTTP pipeline and routes in web applications. In this article, I'll break down its components and structure.

.NET 8 Dependency Injection

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Dependency Injection (DI) is a design pattern used to decouple dependencies between components (services). It achieves this by delegating the creation and management of dependencies to an external...

Three Methods to Copy Directories in C#

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Fri, 05 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Copying directories in C# isn’t straightforward since .NET lacks a built-in method for this task. This guide explores three practical approaches to achieve directory copying, each with its pros and...

Configuration Management in .NET Core with appsettings.json

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Sat, 09 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT

A comprehensive guide to leveraging appsettings.json for flexible configuration management in .NET Core applications.

Task in C#

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT

The Task class in C# is a powerful tool for multithreaded programming, enabling asynchronous operations, parallel processing, and task cancellation. This guide demonstrates common patterns and best...

C# String Manipulation

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Working with strings is a daily task for developers, but mastering efficient and error-free string operations in C# requires understanding key techniques and avoiding common mistakes. This guide...

Comprehensive Guide to Swagger Integration in ASP.NET Core Applications

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Sat, 24 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT

A practical implementation guide for leveraging Swagger/OpenAPI documentation in ASP.NET Core projects, featuring advanced configurations and security integration.

BSON vs MessagePack: Differences and How to Choose

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT

BSON (Binary JSON) is a binary-encoded JSON format developed by MongoDB, primarily used for data storage and transmission in MongoDB databases. It extends the JSON format by adding support for...

Generating QR Codes in C#

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT

There are multiple ways to generate QR codes. This article demonstrates how to use QRCoder—a lightweight and easy-to-use library that supports concurrent generation without relying on third-party...

Modern Email Handling in .NET with MailKit: A Comprehensive Guide

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT

A practical implementation guide for sending emails in .NET applications using the recommended MailKit library, featuring HTML content embedding and dependency injection patterns.

Implementing a Custom Captcha Generator in ASP.NET Core Without Third-Party Libraries

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Thu, 23 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

A practical guide to creating random captcha images in .NET applications without external dependencies. This solution leverages System.Drawing.Common for image manipulation and provides full control...

Auto-Generating RESTful APIs in .NET with Plus.AutoApi

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

In DDD (Domain-Driven Design) architectures, developers often need to manually create API controllers after implementing service layers. Plus.AutoApi eliminates this step by dynamically generating...

Docker Compose Setup for Consul Cluster

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Deploy a 3-server-node cluster + 1 client node using Docker:

Redis Essentials: Features, Setup, and Operations

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Tue, 05 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Redis is a distributed in-memory NoSQL database supporting persistence. It offers rich data structures including strings, lists, sets, sorted sets, and hashes.

Implementing JWT Authentication in .NET Core

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Thu, 17 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT

This guide demonstrates JWT authentication implementation in .NET Core with custom configurations and error handling.

Implementing API Gateway in .NET Core with Ocelot

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Sat, 14 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT

An API Gateway acts as a unified entry point for exposing APIs publicly. In .NET Core ecosystems, Ocelot provides a robust solution for implementing API gateways. Alternative libraries include...

Web Scraping in .NET Core with HtmlAgilityPack, AngleSharp, and PuppeteerSharp

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Thu, 22 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Web scraping carries inherent risks and should be performed ethically. This guide demonstrates practical implementations using three popular .NET libraries.

Exceptionless Logging in .NET Core

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Sun, 28 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT

ExceptionLess is a free open-source distributed logging framework that provides self-hosted and managed solutions for error tracking and log collection. Key features include:

ABP vNext Application Template: Quick Start Guide

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT

A ready-to-use project template for rapidly building applications with ABP vNext framework. This template comes pre-configured with essential components including Redis, Swagger UI, Autofac DI,...

Implementing Apollo Configuration in .NET Core

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Tue, 04 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Apollo is a distributed configuration management system developed by Ctrip's Framework Department. It enables centralized configuration management across multiple environments and clusters,...

Kafka with .NET Core

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Mon, 06 May 2024 00:00:00 GMT

- ZooKeeper: Download

Working with Elasticsearch in .NET Core

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Tue, 02 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Elasticsearch is an open-source search engine built on top of Apache Lucene™, the most advanced, high-performance, full-featured search engine library available today. While powerful, Lucene remains...

Deep Dive into .NET 8 WebApplication: Architecture and Components

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT

WebApplication is used to configure the HTTP pipeline and routes in web applications. In this article, I'll break down its components and structure.

File Transfer in C#

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Sun, 11 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT

This guide demonstrates a reliable file transfer solution using C#'s native networking classes, with enhancements for error handling, asynchronous operations, and large file support.

Excel Import and Export Using EPPlus in .Net

zzyliu71@gmail.com (Allen Liu) — Thu, 18 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT

EPPlus GitHub Repository: https://github.com/EPPlusSoftware/EPPlus