Getting started with CSLA - Any opinions

Thinking posted on Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Im new to CSLA I mainly develop ecommerce apps but want to get into the other areas such as wpf,silverlight, phone etc etc

Where do i start are the books a good place or the videos from the creator such as

Core CSLA .NET 3.8 Video Series.  whats the fastest way to get up to speed with this framework and with the concepts.

FoodmanCyclingPA replied on Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Hey Thinking,

The videos are awesome to learn the material.  I have all of Rocky's books from VB6 Csla to Expert C# 2008 Business Objects and have read them.  In MHO, the videos, even though they are expensive, get you going faster on learning the material.  Believe me, the first author who comes out with a book you can put under your pillow at night and absorb all the material, I will be buying that technology.

Rocky is an awesome author and is clear and conscise but the material is not easy and I have read some chapters multiple times before it sinks in.  I have not bought the 3.8 videos but did purchase the previous ones and they were awesome and I am probably going to buy the 3.8 ones but have to change some budget numbers (Christmas gifts, just came back from a ski trip, etc.) to fit them in, but I do get up to speed faster with them.

If you get the videos, also download the samples from the site and go through them.  I would say download some samples, play with them to just get a feel of what is going on, then go through the videos.  I like to play with stuff first (even though I may not have a clue what I am doing, I learn enough to get things working) then go through the videos and things start clicking.  Everyone learns differently and that works for me.

So, bottom line is I would invest in the videos.  Just wanted to give you some info on how I make my decision.

CyclingFoodmanPA

Mick_G replied on Thursday, December 31, 2009

If you are a very experienced OOP programer get the latest book and get which ever series suits where your heading, silverlight or Win. and you will be on your way in no time. If your new to creating a business layer I'd say do the Videos first then think about the book. The book is a little thick, and really just starting out to use CSLA is not really all that bad. When you get comfortable doing some experimenting on your DBs get the book to fill in the holes.

But I also have to say CSLA is a pretty big subject in its own right and it does take time to start absorbing it. But I also think if it is the way you want to do things no better Framework to use.