While originally an “interesting” technology for the fringe of ASP.NET developers, the Model-View-Controller (MVC) framework is clearly destined to become mainstream. Version 2.0 will be included as part of VS 2010 / .NET 4 and has smoothed some of the rough edges of the initial release.
One of the questions we have been struggling with at Renaissance is what browser development technologies to focus on for our in-house and client projects. Apparently we are not alone – I attended an audience-participation session at the PDC dedicated to the question of choosing between Webforms, MVC, and Silverlight.
Each technology has its pros and cons, and each development project must be analyzed for its particular needs and tradeoffs. Still, I would offer the following observations:
(1) The architecture encouraged by the MVC framework leads to more testable and maintainable applications, with a clear separation of roles – both in software and human developers and designers.
(2) For more “futuristic” applications, where you want more advanced graphics muscle and the power and familiarity of the .NET framework, go with Silverlight. As I said previously, it is the future of UI on the Microsoft platform.
While on the subject of MVC vs. Webforms, check out the interesting post by Scott Guthrie: About Technical Debates (and ASP.NET Web Forms and ASP.NET MVC debates in particular)
The January meeting of the Israel Dot Net Developers User Group will be held on Wednesday January 20, 2010. This meeting will focus on real-real issues and practices in developing unit tests, with a variety of tools. Our speakers will be Dror Helper and Gil Zilberfeld from the company Typemock.
Abstract:
Unit tests increase the programmer’s confidence that individual units of source code are fit for use.
Although most software developers have heard about unit testing and some even use TDD at their work there is more to unit tests then writing tests using a framework.
This session is intended for developers that want to know more about unit testing and TDD and how it can help them produce better code.
Part 1 – Real life unit testing
Tools are not enough. If you want to succeed overtime, you need more ammunition. Some people call them best practices. We call them real life lessons. Let’s share.
· Why should every developer unit test his code
· Unit testing tools
· TDD & Unit testing best practices
· How to avoid writing fragile tests
· Testing special scenarios
Part 2 - How to make a mockery
So you’ve decided you want to unit test. Good for you. But are you ready for the next step? In the real world, applications are so complex, that in order to test a component in isolation, you need a new set of tools.
He’s what we’re going to learn:
• What’s the problem?
• Why is it so confusing?
• That’s how I roll (my own mocks)
• All sorts of Isolation frameworks
• Road-bumps and stabilizers
17:30 - 18:00 Assembly
18:00 - 19:15 “Real_life Unit Testing”
Dror Helper and Gil Zilberfeld, Typemock
19:15 - 19:30 Break
19:30 – 20:30 “How to Make a Mockery”
Dror Helper and Gil Zilberfeld, Typemock
About the presenters:
Dror Helper is an experienced software developer currently working at Typemock where he develops unit testing tools. Over the past 7 years, he has designed and developed applications in various fields including video streaming, eCommerce and performance tools. He is passionate about programming best practices and unit testing, and is always willing to talk about the subject. He was a guest presenter at several user groups. Visit Dror’s blog (http://blogs.microsoft.co.il/blogs/dhelper/) where he writes about software development and best practices.
Gil Zilberfeld has been in software since childhood, starting with Logo turtles. After 15 years in commercial software companies, he has vast experience in development and development practices. Currently Gil is the Technical Evangelist of Typemock, promoting unit testing and some incredibly cool tools. He's also taken part in the Alt.Net Israel community, and has run talks in different groups. Gil blogs on the Typemock blog (http://blog.typemock.com). Gil and Dror produce the “This Week in Testing” webcast on the Typemock site.