Customer Reviews

Code Generation in Microsoft .NET

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I thank the author for this fantastic book on code generation.

Contrary to what I have read on the web this is not a hard book. It is the first truly creative book on .NET I have read.

The code, that is downloadable, includes both C# and VB code.

While this is not a book for developers learning .NET it will prove invaluable to developers who have already started getting tired of writing or adapting the same repetitive code project after project.

This book while introducing a truly unique way of using the tools in .NET is also a good read. The author's writing style is engaging and not the usual mindless .NET prose found in many books.

I have used my own `brute force' code generation since 1998 in VB6 to generate classes and forms. When I started porting my code generation to .NET I soon realised that I would have to redesign and rewrite to fully utilise ADO.NET and started looking for a new application.

After trying all the generation tools out there in the hope of finding a replacement for my own application I was disappointed to see that they all had a `philosophy' that one had to embrace to use their tools and that all the tools were inflexible from a developer's viewpoint. Even the templates only give the developer the functions in the `Black Box' without the option of extending the functionality.

This book takes a bold step forward in the art of code generation giving developers the tools to extract information from a database structure and to then generate custom stored procedures and classes from this metadata using XSLT. The book's main focus is on using XSLT templates but also discusses the use of brute force and CodeDOM for code generation. As the developer controls every aspect of the code generation and the system is extendable it is guaranteed to enhance the creativity and productiveness of developers.

The book includes an excellent appendix on XML, XPath and XSD that will get you up to speed on these technologies quickly.

In this book I have found what I could not in any of the code generation products, total control of the process and extendibility.

An ideal companion book to get is Expert One-on-One Visual basic .NET Business Objects by Rockford Lhotka. As the templates in the book are based on Mr Lhotka's CSLA framework his book will make extending and understanding the templates easier.

Amazon makes it extremely easy for buyers to compare books and to have access to all the information needed to make an informed purchase. I am always amazed by reviews from people who did not understand what the book they bought was about.

This book's title is self explanatory and easy to understand. If you do not want to learn how code generation can make your life as a developer easier and more enjoyable then do not buy this book.

I don't understand the viewpoint of the first reviewer. A book isn't one star simply because the content of the book wasn't what you intended. If you expected a book on reflection I'm not sure why you thought a book on code generation was going to do it for you. Perhaps you are thinking about runtime code generation, but I'm sure that would be in the title.

Back to the book. I think it's great. The only flaw I can find is that it's almost too detailed in spots. She presents an entire framework for building SQL DDL, stored procedures, an ORM layer, and user interface with both WinForms and HTML from XML descriptions. She also provides a larger perspective on code generation in the context of the development cycle as well as avoiding the common pitfalls. The jovial tone also keeps it light.

Anyone skilled enough to understand how code generation can revolutionize their development process should be able to handle the VB, XML, and XSLT used in the book, and either apply the principles in derivative work, or use her code directly.

This is a very frustrating book for a couple of reasons. First contrary to what the book and some of the previous reviewers have said, there is no C# support for this book.

I quote the back of the book, "In addition to the text, the tools in the book (downloadable in both VB.net and C#)..." This is untrue. While there are some code examples in C# in the download, almost everything is in VB.net. This includes the code generation harness, which to me is the whole reason to buy the book. If you don't believe me download the code before you buy the book. There is a note in the read me that says as much.

While this might be of small significance to all you VB types, I came to MS from the Java/C world and don't know VB.

The second frustrating thing about the book is that it is about how to deploy a code generator not how to write one. There is a lot of discussion about metadata extraction, how to write good handcrafted code, etc. But the only discussion about how the code generation works is way out in Appendix C: Details of the Code Generation Harness.

Now if this is supposed to be a beginning book on code generation, shouldn't it talk about the code generator and how it works in the actual book??

I wish that someone would have told me these things before I bought it. I think down the road this may be a useful book once can get my hands around the generator. It has chapters on things metadata extraction and interface generation that look very interesting. For that reason I am giving it a 3.

I agree with the author that "code generation" will grow as a dominant force in the IT industry over the next 5 years. When you hear stories about programming tasks being shipped overseas, its not the deep, creative thinking of type work that is shipped... no, they ship the redundant, grunt type of coding which could be described by an algorithm. When you find yourself writing code falling into a predictable pattern, then perhaps you should consider code generation.

Before I read the book, I was already convinced that code generation was a valuable thing to do, but the book helped reshape how I thought of code generation in the context of a large project, or even an IT department.

Here are the main points that resonated with me:
1) Code Generation should be thought of as a step in the overall project build process.
2) The biggest payoff will be gained by generated stored procedures and middle tier components.
3) Code generation allows the architect to decouple the system meta data from the technology. (eg. I can change my data access strategy by simply modifying my template)
4) It is possible to generate UI components.

Finally, the book goes beyond code generation. You will learn other interesting tidbits about Visual Studio .NET and the .NET framework. The appendices include good primers on XML/XSLT and her Code Generation harness. The freely downloadable harness is designed to orchestrate the CodeGen process, but you really need to the book to understand how it works and how it can be extended.

Even the most complex topics are understandable. The book is targeted at programmers who have some experience in developing applications using .NET. Most of the content is not geared toward .NET beginners, but the introductions to each topic can be a good jump-start if you have previous application development experience. The book also provides a lot of advice to help determine when code generation is useful and when it is not.
Anyone implementing code generation as part of their .NET application architecture should read this book at least once to assist with planning their strategy, and then refer back top specific topics during implementation. Overall it's a good buy because the author has taken a lot of time to ensure that the content is relevant to real-world developers, and there are several real-world application examples with source code included.

This is a great book. Surely not the kind of book that you can read to relax: there are always several threads to follow, and if you skip a page, then you sort of feel that you're going to miss something, maybe a little useful practical tip, or maybe a smart design approach with lots of interesting implications. So it might take a fairly long time to read it, but it's well invested. Not only if you're on .NET: most, if not all, code generation concepts can be applied to other platforms and languages. So if you are interested in code generation this book is a must-read.

Overall I'm disappointed with the book, there is nothing new here. The downloadable code is also poorly coded. If you have experience with code generation I'm not sure you'll find anything new in the book otherwise if you're just starting out with code generation then it might be a good starting point. I'll have to agree with the reviewer Mox Blu on this one.

I always respect authors and publishers who have the courage to publish highly specialized books such as this one. It will not be relevant to most of the developers doing general .NET development, for but those needing help with Code Generation this is absolutely required.

In general, when I see many classes that are nearly identical they can be designed in a much better way using normal OO constructs (base class with children if required for special cases to override). In general, if possible do not mark your classes as SEALED and mark each method as virtual. This gives other the ability to extend your work. There is nothing more frustrated then finding a class that is close to what you need and finding it is sealed to you resort to encapsulation (which many would argue is a better approach anyway and in many cases they are correct).

However when you have tedious classes that are different in fundamental ways (like a database layer) this can eliminate the drudgery of much of the effort.


In addition to a deep understanding of multi-threading this is one area the senior developer should understand and study.

Kind Regards,
Damon Wilder Carr, Chief Technologist and CEO

Much of this book is obvious - use of XSLT to to generate code files, how to consume sql metadata. But the author does a GREAT job of presenting the information in useful context. I recommend it.

Not so good. This book definitely deservs 3 stars as max. But those promoters gave 5, then I give 1. Just to be honest.