Since I moved to C# 3.0 and .NET 3.5, I have witness the power of the new features of the language and they bring easier and faster development. However we are still using a lot of libraries, frameworks, API dating back to the .NET 2.0 era and most of them are not yet using all the goodness of the latest .Net and C# iteration.

I found 2 libraries though that are build with the latest version of .Net and make use of the powerful features of Linq and C# 3.0 like lambda and expression trees.

If you are doing TDD (Test Driven Development), you are using a framework like MbUnit, NUnit or else but you may also be using a mocking framework like Rhino Mocks to mock your objects. If you are doing mocking and you look for an easier to use and very clean solution, consider Moq the new kid in town. Give it a try and enjoy the fast learning curve.

The second library is once again an IOC/DI library (Inversion of Control/Dependency Injection). See this post for another good IOC library. This new one is probably smaller and less bloated than the big names, but it offers an easy and clever syntax with features. Look at Autofac. Again it leverages all the goodness introduced in C# 3.0 and .NET 3.5. In a programmer point of view, this translates into a time saver and cleaner code.

That’s all for today.

Richard Lopes

Today I decided to blog 2 of my findings for .Net development.
Also I’m using my blog like a knowledge base to keep my good findings, ideas and tips and tricks.

Often we look at the existing solutions before reinventing the wheel. Sometimes we do reinvent the wheel anyway because a third party library miss some of the features we need, or for fun sake. But there are gems already in the wild.

First, IOC/DI (Inversion Of Control/Dependency Injection):

• StructureMap 2.5.2 from Jeremy D. Miller has just been released. This IOC library has been there for a long time and it is a very mature product. The author is very clever and I think StructureMap is far easier to integrate to a project than Microsoft options.

Second, validation (for ASP.NET MVC):

• xVal is a validation framework I just discovered. What I liked with this framework is the promise of building a strong validation layer by picking up a server-side solution and a client-side solution. There is several possible options for both sides and xVal provides the glue between the two. The idea is to define the validation rules for each field as attributes and the system uses the same rules for both server-side and client-side validation. Very good.

Here it is for today. There is more parts needed than this while creating an ASP.NET MVC project in particular, and I will continue to blog about the stack of tools and libraries that we need to create a well architectured application.

Signing off,

Richard Lopes

Hi,

Sometimes you get a reminder of how nasty our business can be. Like every other business there is people trying to benefit from your work, stealing your ideas, attacking you behind your back and so on…
Of course these people often lack the originality, the skills and top of their lack of morality and respect.

This morning I got an unexpected email from someone I really respect for his work: Mike Griffin of EntitySpaces fame (by the way, ES2009 looks terrific !). You may know him since he pioneered with a few others the OR/M in the .Net World and maybe from MyGeneration a tool I used a lot. I’m just sorry he contacted me for such a sad story.
He kindly warned me that my old favourite article on CodeProject was ripped off and copyrighted by a guy on Dreamincode.net.
You can see here the 2002 original: http://www.codeproject.com/KB/recipes/command_line.aspx
And before they delete it the 2008 ripoff: http://www.dreamincode.net/forums/showtopic47895.htm

Amazing no ? Actually I liked the layout of Psychocoder version of my article. I was suprised by Mike Griffin email and feel more curious than angry. The ripper copyright is even more restrictive than the original which is unacceptable. Overall I feel sorry for the guy that did that. He is harming my work. He is apparently a moderator of Dreamincode.net which cast a bad shadow on the website. He is trying hard to build his presence on Dreamicode.net and there is probably no bad ways to achieve his goal (and win the 25$ ?). It could be interresting to investigate further his contributions to find other possible ripoff.

This is quite a strange way to start the day.

Richard Lopes

Edit: Chris Kenworthy the owner of the site Dream.In.Code took the matter very seriously and resolved the issue promptly and efficiently. Actually it has been resolved the same day I was informed. Shortly after publishing this post he already had taken adequate action. Thank you very much Chris.

10 print "Hello World !"
20 goto 10
> run

I’m trying to turn this blog into my personal technical hub.
To do so, I already linked it to my Facebook and twitter accounts, and I also have a FriendFeed account linking to my blog, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. But the real happenings occur here, on this blog.

Today’s topic is about linking back to my old .Net articles. They are pretty simple stuff, but they have been quite successful and still relevant today. Thanks to CodeProject for the exposure. Thanks also to all the gentlemen you used my code and gave me credits. This is very much appreciated and I’m going to write new articles soon and give away code and solutions.

Ok, here are buried from the past (2002 !) my very first .Net articles:

• http://www.codeproject.com/KB/files/copydirectoriesrecursive.aspx
• http://www.codeproject.com/KB/cs/xml_error_log.aspx
• http://www.codeproject.com/KB/recipes/command_line.aspx

This brings back good memories !

See you,

Richard Lopes