Open Source .NET Development: Programming with NAnt, NUnit, NDoc, and More [Paperback]

Brian Nantz (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0321228103 | ISBN-13: 978-0321228109 | Publication Date: August 26, 2004

One of the changes Microsoft brought with .NET was to submit C# and theCommon Language Runtime for standardization. As a result, for the first time,people have been able to develop open source tools that can be used withMicrosoft's tools. These open source tools are important because they givedevelopers increased efficiency and flexibility. This is the first book to showhow to use these new tools, including NAnt, NDoc, NUnit, Draco.net,Log4Net, and ASpell.Net. The author is an active member of the open sourcecommunity, and has contributed to several of these projects. He shows how touse all the tools with both Visual Studio .NET and with the Mono Project, theleading Open Source IDE for .NET. This book should appeal equally to .NETdevelopers intersted in what open source tools are available to them, as well asto open source developers who are curious about .NET. Just as Javadevelopers have embraced open source Java tools such as Jakarta, Ant, andJUnit, .NET developers are eager for this information.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Perhaps the most revolutionary aspect of the arrival of Microsoft's

Perhaps the most revolutionary aspect of the arrival of Microsoft's .NET platform is the standardization of C# and the Common Language Runtime. Now, for the first time, programmers can develop and use open-source projects that are based on a language that is an international standard as well as compatible with both Microsoft and Linux platforms.

Open Source .NET Development is the definitive guide on .NET development in an open-source environment

Inside, readers will find in-depth information on using NAnt, NDoc, NUnit, Draco.NET, log4net, and Aspell.Net with both Visual Studio .NET and the Mono Project. Brian Nantz not only shares the best open-source and "free" tools, frameworks, components, and products for .NET, he also provides usable, practical examples and projects. The result is a highly accessible reference for finding the tools that best fit your needs.

Highlights include

• An introduction to open source and its implementations of the .NET standards
• .NET development with open-source tools, including build automation, XML documentation, unit testing, continuous integration, and application logging
• A simple example of Integrating .NET open-source projects that integrates an Open Source SVG component with a System.Drawing graphical editor
• An Aspell.Net case study that shows the use of Draco.NET Continuous Integration in conjunction with NAnt, NUnit, NDoc, and the SharpDevelop IDE
• An exclusive look at ADO.NET database and ASP.NET Web development using PostgreSQL that runs on both Windows and Linux
• Appendixes on NAnt and NAntContrib tasks, log4netAppender configurations, and open-source security observations
• Whether you are a .NET developer interested in learning more about open-source tools or an open-source developer curious about .NET, this book will bridge the divide between these formerly distinct camps.

About the Author

Brian Nantz is a senior engineer in research and development at Security International in Milwaukee. He has designed solutions for GM, GE, Honeywell, and Analogic. An active member of the open-source community, Brian contributes to NAnt, NAntContrib, and log4net and is a lead developer for LogKit.Net and Aspell.Net.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 504 pages
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional (August 26, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321228103
• ISBN-13: 978-0321228109
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,692,925 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good OpenSource .NET Primer, October 11, 2004

By 

J. Lauria "jimsusedbooks" (Fayetteville, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Open Source .NET Development: Programming with NAnt, NUnit, NDoc, and More (Paperback)

Nantz states in his introduction to Chapter 12, ".Net Open Source code is not just some ideal; it is real and useable today." A well written and informitive book covering the intergration of Open Source and .NET tools and programming philosophy. Subjects covered are licenses and standards, the importance of the .NET CLR and its application in Open Source applications like Mono, which seek to blend .NET/Open Source applications.
Nantz also stresses throughout the text the importance of the C# language in Open Source development and testing, testing, testing using various Open Source/.NET tools. A large portion of the book examines build tools like NAnt, XML and C# documentation, the use of NUnit testing and other test tools. Other areas Nantz looks at are application logging, integration with ASP.NET, databases like MSDE and MySQL, and web development.
There are lots of code examples (mostly written in C#) which make Nantz's statements triable, provable, and useable. The book comes with a CD full of code listings, source code, examples, and the tools mentioned so the reader can try the tools (with MS or Unix/Linux OS's) and code for him or her self. Out of 480+ pages Nantz devotes over 100 pages to references like NAnt tasks, mkisofs, Log4NET Appender configurations and security issues. This is a valuable text for those interested in Open Source/.NET applications.
I would recommend this book if for nothing more than getting one's feet wet with the many OS/.NET possibilities available for today's programmers .

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Don't judge a book by it's cover, March 18, 2005

By 

Mark T. Rooney - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Open Source .NET Development: Programming with NAnt, NUnit, NDoc, and More (Paperback)

While I had expected to see a concise treatment to the use of NUnit, NAnt, NDoc; instead I was treated to a 74 page treatise on the glories of open-source, and how Microsoft is going to have to ponny up to the realization that Open Source is the wave of the future. The author then briefly discusses the various topics; making this 484 page book a 70 page booklet on using testing tools, and 414 pages of fluff and philosophy.

The first quarter of the book was a briefing of the author's philosophy, and his editorial views on various 'open source' products, as well as different liscense models and how to select one.

If you are looking for a book that treats NUnit, NAnt, NDoc, and the other testing suite tools, although this book has a fair discussion on them, it's not really adequate.

Instead of the 1 star that this book may truly deserve (for false advertising), I gave it a two star because it has become a reference book on other open-source tools that I might find useful. Even though this is why I am so critical of the book, it's also why I give it a higher ranking.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars open source + Microsoft ?!, October 24, 2004

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Open Source .NET Development: Programming with NAnt, NUnit, NDoc, and More (Paperback)

A quiet revolution is happening with Microsoft's flagship .NET. By putting the ownership of key parts into ECMA and ISO, Microsoft has enabled the rise of an open source movement that can build projects within C# or even Java, and have these compiled or cross compiled to Intermediate Language bytecode, which can then be run on Microsoft or linux boxes.

What the book shows is that enthusiasts in open source have seized this chance. They have built tools like NUnit and NAnt, which correspond to their Java precursors, JUnit and Ant. Functionally, NUnit and NAnt do just what you'd expect. Which eases the transition form Java programming, if that is where you are coming from.

The book covers far more than these packages. It describes an entire development and coding process, living entirely in a .NET environment. Complete with detailed examples to make it real for you. It also describes ongoing open source efforts like Mono and Portable.NET.

The book does not goes into the depth of detail about IL that a similar book, "Cross Platform .NET Development", does. But it is broader in its scope of coverage of the overall development process.