October 6, 2007

Microsoft MVC Framework - They've Really Been Listening!

by Brian Donahue

I am not the only one that is all geeked up about the new Microsoft MVC Framework that Scott Guthrie demo'd at the ALT.NET ConferenceBroken Link: http://altnetconf.com/.  I am probably one of the last ones to blog about it.  I still feel the need to pile on to the love fest and say that I've never been as excited about a new product coming out of Redmond as I am about this framework.  They've really been listening.  As Roy Osherove said, Microsoft gets Design For Testability... Finally.  And that is in no small part due to ScottGu who seems to have been a major force in getting all the testability and pluggability in there.  He also gives a hell of a presentation - perfectly tailored to the ALT.NET crowd (no slides, just code), complete with give and take and trading good natured jibes with the participants.  Even the most skeptical left impressed.

I won't go over all the technical details, because Jeffery Palermo does a great job of that hereBroken Link: http://codebetter.com/blogs/jeffrey.palermo/.  Now that I've lost you all to Jeff's post...  I will add that while I do think System.Web.MVC does probably mark the beginning of the end of MonorailBroken Link: http://castleproject.org/monorail/, I definitely don't think it is a threat to the overall Castle Project.  MS (finally!) was smart enough to not try to re-invent all 4 wheels and the carriage.  There is too much great stuff in Castle, ActiveRecordBroken Link: http://castleproject.org/activerecord and WindsorBroken Link: http://castleproject.org/container, specifically, and more.  And it's fantastic that we can still use those tools with MS MVC.  I am interested to hear what Hammett and Ayende have to say about MS MVC.  I wonder if they will be happy to have a solid MVC system from MS, and focus their energies on the other supporting tools needed - View Engines, IoC/DI, ORM, etc.  Or will they be inspired by the challenge and continue to make Monorail better and better as a viable alternative to the MS MVC?  The .NET developer community owes them a great debt of gratitude for making Monorail so great, that Microsoft couldn't help but hear the feedback, and respond to it. 

Update:  Hammett et al have (for now) posted some thoughts on the Castle home page.

Update 2:  DamienG studied the ALT.NET Conf MVC Demo video like NFL coaches study game film, and has a great summary.

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