Brand new to 3.0 - what should I read to help get me started?

jamie.gaines posted on Thursday, July 12, 2007

Hello.  I'm brand new to the forum and to CSLA.  I want to start learning CSLA 3.0, but I'm not sure where I should begin.

Should I start by reading the Expert C# Business Objects book?  Or the 2.1 ebook?  Will either of these give me enough of a foundation such that I can easily grok the new 3.0 features, or is there a beginner 3.0 resource I should be looking in to?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

david.wendelken replied on Thursday, July 12, 2007

Start with the printed book.  Whether you read the whole book, then the 2.1 ebook, or try to check the 2.1 book for relevant changes as you go is up to you. :)

The ProjectTracker sample app is a great place to learn from.

Plus, use these forums!

ajj3085 replied on Thursday, July 12, 2007

The 2005 book, followed by the 2.1 ebook.  According to the road map, another ebook for 3.0 is coming Q3 this year.

jamie.gaines replied on Friday, July 13, 2007

Thanks to both of you for your help.  I ordered the 2005 book and it will be here later today.

josh.kodroff replied on Monday, July 16, 2007

Much of the first half of the book or so is devoted to the code in the framework itself.  While it was certainly educational, I didn't find it useful in terms of learning how to use the framework.  It also involves what I would consider some advanced .NET topics.  Rocky has also sounded off on this and has indicated that the 3.0 printed book may not include this material.

When you get the book, I would recommend reading the chapters in this order (and refer back to the missing chapters if something goes over your head): 1, 2, 7 - 10, 11 and 12 if applicable, then 3 through 6 if you need to know the gritty details.

RockfordLhotka replied on Tuesday, July 17, 2007

I agree, if you are simply using CSLA then you can skip chapters 3-5.

But don't skip chapter 6!!!!

CSLA is designed to support behavioral object design (single responsibility-d). Chapter 6 helps introduce a way of thinking about object design that I recommend you consider when doing your own OOD.

A large percentage of the questions on this forum, and a large percentage of issues people face when using CSLA, happen due to data-centric object modeling. The answer is almost always to use behavioral object modeling instead.

It is true that CSLA can be used to implement data-centric object models. And it is valuable in that context. But my design goals are to support responsibility-driven object models, and life is often easier if you buy into that philosophy when using CSLA.

So if you are just using CSLA, read chapters 1-2 and 6-8. Then read chapter 9, 10 or 11 depending on the type of UI you are creating (Windows, Web, Service). If you are using a remote data portal then read chapter 12.