Improving Code Quality… One Developer At A Time!

The “No Rest for the Wicked – Worldwide Tour 2026” is headed to your country and city, offering in-person and virtual experiences! Join me for an enriching event where you can dive deep into a wide range of topics, including best practices, coding standards, code and app performance, cloud computing, architecture design, defensive programming, and memory management. Additionally, I will be conducting workshops on globalization and localization, as well as providing valuable insights to help you prepare for your next technical interview. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to enhance your coding skills and expand your technical knowledge!

Request dotNetDave to speak at your event! Click here for more information.

Sessions

Röck Yoür Cöde: How Coding Standards Supercharge .NET Quality & Performance ™

Length: 1 - 1.5 hours

Great code doesn’t happen by accident. It’s the result of clear standards, proven practices, and a commitment to quality. This session shows you how to write .NET code that is consistent, maintainable, and built to perform at a professional level—no matter where you are in your career.

Based on the 20th Anniversary Edition of Rock Your Code: Coding Standards for Microsoft .NET, https://bit.ly/CodingStandards20th, this talk is your practical roadmap to writing cleaner, safer, and more efficient .NET applications using modern language features and best practices.

Join me for a high-energy, hands-on session where we break down:

How to structure your projects for long-term maintainability
How to apply coding standards that actually improve productivity
Common pitfalls that quietly destroy code quality
How to write clearer, safer, and more performant code
How modern .NET features can simplify your architecture and reduce bugs

You can expect live demonstrations, real-world examples, and battle-tested techniques that you can start using immediately. This isn’t about academic theory—it’s about what works in production and what saves teams time, money, and frustration.

This session is part of my ongoing series, “Improving Code Quality… One Developer at a Time,” and is designed to help you level up your craftsmanship and think like a professional engineer.

Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been writing .NET code for years, you’ll walk away with sharper instincts, stronger habits, and a renewed focus on writing code you’re proud to put your name on. By the end, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a true Code Shark™.

Don’t miss this opportunity to future-proof your skills and take your .NET development to the next level.

What Attendees Are Saying

I saw this presentation at the SoCal Code Camp and was a little shell-shocked about all the things that the other courses (Pluralsight, MVA, Microsoft Learn) failed to state.
— Joseph D.

Your talks around code quality, memory, and performance were insightful and thought-provoking. Not to mention the guitar picks, which were like a cherry on top.
— Sachin Y.

Before attending, please take my Coding Standards Survey:
https://bit.ly/CodingStandardsSurvey25

Röck Yoür Cöde: Optimizing Microsoft .NET Code for High-Performance ™

Length: 1 - 1.5 hours

In today’s high-demand, cloud-driven world, code performance is no longer a “nice to have”—it’s mission critical. When your back-end systems are processing tens of thousands of requests per second, often across microservices, even the smallest inefficiencies can translate into higher costs, reduced scalability, and unhappy users.

This session dives deep into the real-world dos and don’ts of high-performance .NET development. You’ll discover proven techniques that can improve execution speed by up to 98% while significantly reducing memory allocations. Every concept is demonstrated live using modern .NET, showing you exactly how small code changes can produce massive performance gains.

But this isn’t just theory or micro-benchmarks. You’ll see:

How to identify common performance killers in everyday business code
Which .NET patterns and APIs consistently outperform traditional approaches
How to reduce memory pressure and improve throughput in high-load systems
How to think like a performance engineer when designing and reviewing code

What makes this session truly unique is the direct connection to real, production-tested performance data. You’ll gain exclusive insights from the latest benchmarks and research published in the newly released fifth edition of Rock Your Code: Code & App Performance for Microsoft .NET: https://bit.ly/CodePerf5

As a bonus, this talk draws from my ongoing series, “Improving Code Quality… One Developer at a Time,” blending performance engineering with clean, maintainable, and scalable design principles. You’ll walk away with practical, immediately actionable techniques that will make your applications faster, leaner, and more cost-efficient in the cloud. Whether you’re a senior architect pushing system limits or a developer looking to level up your skills, this session will change how you write, evaluate, and optimize .NET code.

Here is what attendees are saying about this session

David gave an excellent presentation on code performance. He showed us how, why, and to what degree various coding methods improved the performance of an application. Lots of tips and tricks! – Bob R.

David McCarter rocked us with .NET performance tips and tricks! And you all should follow it, like a roadie! – Will S.

Röck Yoür Cöde: Optimizing Microsoft .NET Code for High-Performance – Game Show Edition ™

Length: 1 - 1.5 hours

When your back-end systems are handling tens of thousands of requests per second—often across distributed microservices—performance is no longer optional. It directly impacts scalability, reliability, and cloud costs. High-performance code isn’t just about speed; it’s about building smarter, leaner, and more efficient systems.

Microsoft .NET has been evolving for over 25 years, and there are countless ways to solve the same problem. But which approach is truly the fastest? Which allocates the least memory? Which scales the best under pressure?

In this high-energy, interactive session, we turn performance tuning into a game show. You and your fellow attendees will be challenged with real-world coding scenarios, competing to identify the most performant solutions. Expect friendly competition, eye-opening benchmarks, and yes—fabulous prizes.

You’ll learn:

How to recognize hidden performance traps in everyday .NET code
Which modern .NET techniques consistently outperform traditional approaches
How small optimizations can lead to massive gains in throughput and cost savings
How to think like a performance engineer when writing production code

All demos are built on .NET 10, ensuring you’re seeing the latest language features, runtime improvements, and performance enhancements in action.

This session blends education with entertainment, delivering practical, immediately applicable techniques in a format you won’t forget. You’ll walk away with sharper instincts, stronger code, and a renewed passion for writing high-performance .NET applications.

Part of my ongoing series: “Improving Code Quality… One Developer at a Time.”

This session also features insights and benchmark data from the fifth edition of my book,
Rock Your Code: Code & App Performance for Microsoft .NET, available on Amazon:
https://bit.ly/CodePerf5

Get ready to play, compete, and rock your code performance to the next level.

Röck Yoür Cöde: Everything That Every .NET Developer Needs to Know About Disposable Types ™

Length: 1 - 1.5 hours

Is your application feeling sluggish? Is memory usage steadily climbing? Are you rebooting services or servers just to “fix” performance problems without ever finding the real cause?

If so, there’s a good chance disposable types are at the heart of the problem.

After decades of working with millions of lines of .NET code in real-world systems, I’ve seen one issue surface again and again as a silent performance killer: improper handling of disposable resources. Streams, database connections, file handles, HTTP clients, and many other types rely on correct disposal. When they’re mishandled, your application doesn’t leak memory in the traditional sense—but it does suffer from virtual memory leaks, resource starvation, and performance degradation that quietly cripple your system.

.NET is incredibly powerful, but its memory and resource management model is often misunderstood. Developers assume the garbage collector will “take care of everything,” and that assumption leads to:

Excessive memory usage
Slower response times
Unstable services
Costly infrastructure scaling
Mysterious reboots that treat symptoms instead of the disease

In this session, I’ll show you exactly how and why disposable types become a hidden epidemic in .NET applications. Using real production examples backed by metrics, you’ll see how small mistakes can snowball into major performance and stability problems—and how simple, disciplined coding practices can prevent them entirely.

You’ll learn:

How to correctly dispose of objects and why timing matters
How to properly implement IDisposable in your own custom types
Common anti-patterns that silently drain memory and system resources
Tools and diagnostic techniques to identify disposal-related issues
How to design code that is safe, clean, and resource-efficient from day one

This session focuses on prevention, not damage control. Fixing these problems early in your code saves countless hours of debugging, avoids costly post-deployment firefighting, and dramatically improves application stability and performance.

This content draws directly from the 20th Anniversary Edition of my book, Rock Your Code: Coding Standards for Microsoft .NET, available on Amazon: https://bit.ly/CodingStandards20th

After this session, you won’t just understand disposable types—you’ll master them. You’ll leave armed with proven techniques and practical tools that help you write safer, faster, and more reliable .NET applications.

Welcome to the next level. It’s time to evolve into a Code Shark™ and take full control of your application’s performance and resource management.

Röck Yoür Cöde: Seven Important Requirements for Any Successful Project ™

Length: 1 - 1.5 hours and also as a Keynote

In this high-impact session, I will share actionable insights on how developers can ensure that their code meets the stringent quality and performance standards required for successful production deployment. All too often, the pressure to deliver quickly can lead to short-term compromises on code quality, which may accumulate into technical debt and other serious issues down the line. While business goals and deadlines are important, it’s crucial for developers to take the lead in establishing a robust architecture, rigorous standards, and best practices that ensure long-term reliability, scalability, and maintainability.

In this talk, I will dive deep into seven critical topics that every developer must consider when building apps destined for production environments. We’ll explore practical strategies that range from effective testing, debugging, and profiling to the importance of thorough documentation and streamlined deployment processes. Each topic will be supported with real-world examples, including how to integrate these best practices into your development workflow without slowing down delivery timelines.

By adopting these principles, you’ll be able to minimize risk, enhance application performance, and deliver high-quality solutions that your customers will trust and love. Whether you’re tackling your first production release or optimizing an existing system, you’ll walk away from this session with a toolkit that you can immediately apply to improve code quality, reduce future rework, and set your projects on a path to sustainable success.

Join me for this session, part of the “Improving Code Quality… One Developer at A Time” series, and learn how to build apps that not only meet but exceed your customers’ expectations!

Unleash Your Inner Rockstar: The 5 Steps to Dynamic Public Speaking! ™

Length: 1 - 1.5 hours

Ready to elevate your career, captivate your workplace, or take the leap into the world of conference speaking? This session is for you! With over 30 years of experience in public speaking, I’m thrilled to share the essential five steps that will transform you into a dynamic speaker and presenter.

If you’re like I was at the start of my journey—nervous, unsure, and wondering how to capture the audience’s attention—this session will help you conquer those fears. My unique approach to public speaking has not only helped me overcome stage fright but has also allowed me to build an impactful career as an award-winning developer, university educator, published author, blogger, patented inventor, and more!

In this engaging talk, you’ll learn actionable strategies you can implement immediately to:

Master the art of speaking with confidence and clarity.
Deliver presentations that resonate with your audience and keep them engaged.
Overcome stage fright and embrace the spotlight.
Establish a lasting impact on any audience, whether you’re addressing your peers, leadership, or large crowds.

You’ll also discover my top-secret tip for presenters—one simple technique that guarantees to leave your audience hungry for more.

This session isn’t just about speaking; it’s about empowering yourself and enhancing your career. Come join me for this electrifying talk and let’s unlock your potential as a rockstar speaker, elevating your communication skills to new heights and amplifying your engineering expertise!

Röck Yoür Cäreer: Time-Tested Wisdom from a 30-Year Software Engineering Veteran ™

Length: 1 - 1.5 hours

Join me for an engaging and transformative conference session where I’ll share powerful insights from over three decades of experience as a software engineer, along with 18 years as a university educator. With a deep passion for empowering the next generation of tech professionals, I’ve maintained a thriving blog, authored multiple software engineering books since the ‘90s, and hold a patent for innovative technology solutions. Additionally, I’ve facilitated a dynamic, award-winning user group for more than two decades, fostering a community of lifelong learners and industry leaders.

In this session, I’ll provide a roadmap to success based on my rich career journey. You’ll gain practical advice on essential topics, including:

Mastering effective learning strategies to stay ahead in an ever-evolving industry
Achieving the elusive work-life balance while thriving professionally
Navigating the conference circuit to build lasting connections
Leveraging your strengths and unique contributions for career advancement
Prioritizing well-being to fuel long-term success and happiness

You’ll leave with actionable steps to help you accelerate your career, make meaningful professional connections, and live a more fulfilling tech life. With a commitment to nurturing the growth of engineers and technologists, I’m here to inspire and guide you toward an exciting future. Bring your notebook, because this session is packed with game-changing advice that will shape your career for years to come. Get ready to be inspired, motivated, and optimistic about what’s next in your tech journey!

Here Is What Attendees Are Saying About This Session

Thanks a ton for sharing your wisdom today! I very much enjoyed hearing your stories and appreciate the advice. – Justin E.

Workshops

Röck Yoür Cöde: Application Globalization Workshop ™

Length: 4 - 8 hours

In our increasingly interconnected world, creating applications that work seamlessly across diverse languages and regions is more critical than ever. Many projects overlook globalization until it’s too late, resulting in costly and time-consuming retrofitting efforts. This workshop will equip you with the practical knowledge and tools needed to address globalization from the start, saving your team time, money, and frustration.

In this immersive, hands-on workshop, you’ll dive deep into the fundamentals of globalization and internationalization. You’ll learn how to correctly handle numbers, dates, and time formats to ensure smooth localization for different regions. Beyond that, we’ll cover how to effectively manage user-facing text by preparing resource files, refactoring strings into these resources, and applying advanced string globalization techniques. These skills will set you on the path to creating applications that users across the globe will find intuitive and easy to use.

This workshop isn’t just theoretical—you will leave with tangible results. Bring your laptop and any relevant work projects to immediately implement what you’ve learned. By the end of the session, you’ll have a solid foundation to continue globalizing your projects back at your workplace.

You’ll also discover how to streamline the process of string translation, making it faster, easier, and more cost-effective. Additionally, we will cover how to optimize your development workflow by configuring the .editorConfig file to identify and resolve globalization-related issues seamlessly.

By the conclusion of this workshop, you’ll be prepared to build applications that cater to a global audience, improving accessibility, user experience, and market reach. The best part? This workshop is application-agnostic—whether you’re working on a web app, desktop software, or mobile solution, the skills you acquire are universally applicable.

Pre-Workshop Instructions:

Bring your laptop and any relevant work or personal projects that you want to globalize (mandatory).
Ensure you have Visual Studio 2022 installed and updated to the latest version.
Make sure your Azure account is set up and ready for use.

This content draws directly from the 20th Anniversary Edition of my book, Rock Your Code: Coding Standards for Microsoft .NET, available on Amazon: https://bit.ly/CodingStandards20th

Röck Yoür Cäreer: Surviving the Technical Interview Workshop ™

Length: 4 - 8 hours

Have you ever not gotten a job because you weren’t prepared for an interview? Would you like a big raise? Do you need the motivation to rock your career? I’ve interviewed hundreds of software developers and will share my knowledge on how to survive, what we look for, and even divulge some of the secrets we use during the process. Whether you are looking for a new position within your company or at a new company you need to attend this session. Included are crazy and strange interview stories from engineers just like you! Learn tips to get you started, working with recruiters, getting prepared, the technical interview, and more. You will also learn what the #1 question you need to ask during an interview… it’s a game-changer!

This workshop is based on my book “Rock Your Career: Surviving the Technical Interview,” available on Amazon: https://bit.ly/RYCI6

Please take a moment to share your insights by participating in this survey on job search strategies: Tech Job Survey. Your feedback is invaluable!

Rocking Your Technical Interview with David McCarter interview on dotNetRocks!

Here’s What People Are Saying About This Content

Chris S. – I wanted to thank you for your DVD on Technical Interviews. I attended your presentation at Desert Code Camp and purchased the DVD. Your guidance on how to handle technical and even non-technical questions gave me great support and confidence going into a round of interviews I had. That confidence translated into performance as I was able to receive attractive offers from multiple companies, and I was able to make an important move that has been a life-altering, exciting change for me.

Bill W. – Good information! I had forgotten to study the technical questions, did that this morning and I felt I aced my technical interview just now =) Thanks Dave!◦GO now!!! Dave is why I have the best job I have ever had!!!

Daniel I. – Great presentation because you made me realize that I’m not doing enough to better my career! You struck a chord when you said we should keep our resume up-to-date and on-hand at all times. Thanks for helping me realize something I should have been doing a long time ago. Your DVD is very helpful. The fact that you have hiring managers and recruiters giving interviewing tips is great. I’m glad I bought it!

Ken – Thanks for the great presentations – really enjoyed all your presentations at the code camp, learned a lot about interviewing and gained a lot of insight into how recruiting process works.

Stacy P. – An invaluable presentation for less experienced developers and a great review for senior developers that should know better.

Dennis M. – Great presentation, kept me awake and aware, things we often forget and ignore about preparations, and you definitely covered that.

Tour Shop

Bring one of these items to one of the stops on the 2021 tour, I’ll autograph it and you could win FREE swag!

Tour Crew

Swag Providers:

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Contact me if you would like to donate or sponsor one of my tour dates.

Past Events

Use this link to go to past sessions I have presented: https://dotnettips.wordpress.com/tag/event/