"Honeybee colonies are under siege across much of North America..." reported the New York Times last week. [Alternate URL here.] Last winter beekeepers across America "began reporting massive beehive collapses. More than half of the roughly 2.8 million colonies collapsed, costing the industry about $600 million in economic losses..." America's Department of Agriculture says "sublethal exposure" to pesticides remains one of the biggest factors threatening honeybees, according to the article — but it's one of several threats. "Parasites, loss of habitat, climate change and pesticides threaten to wipe out as much as 70% or more of the nation's honeybee colonies this year, potentially the most devastating loss that the nation has ever seen." Some years are worse than others, but there has been a steady decline over time. Scientists have named the phenomenon colony collapse disorder: Bees simply disappear after they fly out to forage for pollen and nectar. Illness disables their radar, preventing them from finding their way home. The queen and her brood, if they survive, remain defenseless. The precise causes remain unknown. Bee colonies have become even more vulnerable because of the increase in extreme weather conditions, including droughts, heat waves, monster hurricanes, explosive wildfires and floods that have damaged or destroyed the bees and the vegetation they pollinate. If that isn't bad enough, parasites — and other creatures researchers refer to as "biotic" threats that prey on bees — proliferate when there is damage to ecosystems. All that means that the U.S. beekeeping industry has contracted by about 2.9% over the past five years, according to data collected by IBISWorld, a research firm. Annual loss rates have been increasing among all beekeepers over the past decade with the most significant colony collapses in commercial operations happening during the past five years. The article notes that "compounding the troubles for the bee industry are recent federal cuts" proposed by DOGE to America's Department of Agriculture, "where researchers were studying ways to protect the nation's honeybees." And while federal policies like tariffs could make farming more expensive, "Beekeepers also often depend on immigrants to manage their hives and to help produce commercial honey..."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

“I wonder how much money OpenAI has lost in electricity costs from people saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to their models.” It was a seemingly random question posed by a user on X (formerly Twitter), but OpenAI CEO Sam Altman jumped in to reply that typing those words has added up to “tens of millions […]

The release of xUnit v3 marks a significant milestone for .NET developers. As one of the most popular unit testing frameworks in the .NET ecosystem, xUnit continues to evolve with the needs of modern development. With v3, it brings performance improvements, streamlined features, and a more extensible test runner engine-all while keeping the same clean syntax developers love.

In this blog post, we’ll walk you through what’s new in xUnit v3, how it compares with previous versions, and how to get the most out of it in your .NET projects – including full support in Typemock Isolator.

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Why xUnit v3 Matters

xUnit has been a staple of .NET testing for years, known for its simplicity, speed, and extensibility. With v3, it focuses on:

• Improved performance across large test suites
• Modern .NET support (including .NET 8 and beyond)
• Refined extensibility model
• Better isolation and diagnostics for parallel test runs

These improvements make xUnit v3 a top choice for enterprise teams and solo developers alike.

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What’s New in xUnit v3?

🔹 .NET 8+ Native Support
xUnit v3 embraces the latest .NET platforms with seamless compatibility and performance tuning.

🔹 Simplified SDK-based Project Structure
No more hacks or config surprises. The new project layout aligns with modern .NET SDK conventions.

🔹 Extensible Runner Model
A new, cleaner model for plugging into test execution, logging, and custom behaviors.

🔹 Better Output & Diagnostic Info
Test failures now offer more actionable context, improving debugging and troubleshooting.

🔹 More Consistent Behavior Across Platforms
xUnit v3 standardizes behavior across Windows, Linux, and macOS – crucial for CI/CD pipelines.

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Using Typemock Isolator with xUnit v3

Want to understand the broader context of testing challenges in .NET? Check out our post: Why .NET Unit Testing Feels Hard

Typemock Isolator now fully supports xUnit v3, enabling developers to combine the best of both worlds:

• xUnit’s elegant, attribute-based syntax
• Typemock’s powerful ability to mock anything, including sealed classes, static methods, and private members
• Compatibility with .NET Framework and .NET Core apps

🔧 Example:

public class MyTests
{
    [Fact]
    public void Should_Mock_StaticMethod_With_Isolator()
    {
        Isolate.WhenCalled(() => LegacyClass.StaticMethod()).WillReturn("Mocked");

        var result = LegacyClass.StaticMethod();

        Assert.Equal("Mocked", result);
    }
}

This test runs cleanly with xUnit v3 and gives you the power to test even the most rigid legacy systems.

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How to Get Started with xUnit v3

1. Update your project:
Install the latest NuGet package: xunit 3.x

2. Update your runner:
Use the new xUnit v3 test runner or compatible runners for your IDE or CI.

3. Integrate Typemock Isolator:
Ensure Typemock Isolator is referenced in your test project to unlock advanced mocking features.

4. Run and Enjoy:
Benefit from faster test execution, better output, and full flexibility.

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Conclusion

xUnit v3 is a welcome evolution of a trusted testing framework, making it easier to test modern .NET applications with speed and confidence.

With Typemock Isolator’s support for xUnit v3, you can now write robust unit tests for even the most difficult code – without sacrificing performance or developer experience.

Looking to deepen your unit testing strategy? Check out Unit Test Patterns for .NET – Part I

👉 Try it out in your next .NET project: Download Typemock Isolator

The post Mastering xUnit v3: What’s New and How to Leverage It in Your .NET Projects appeared first on Typemock.

This article analyzes the performance of different methods for retrieving the character count of a string in .NET, recommending the use of Length as the fastest option. Length is significantly more efficient than Span and Enumerable.Count(), urging developers to refactor for improved performance while validating optimizations with BenchmarkDotNet.

Implement secure, enterprise-ready Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers protected by Entra ID authentication using Azure API Management and Azure Functions. This complete guide walks you through creating a confidential client architecture that protects sensitive tokens while enabling secure LLM tool access.