Code Generation in Microsoft .NET :
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Author: Kathleen Dollard
List Price: $59.99
Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price
ISBN: 1590591372
Publisher: APress (01 January, 1970)
Edition: Paperback
Sales Rank: 19,311
Average Customer Rating: 3 out of 5
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Customer ReviewsRating: 1 out of 5
Weigh It Before You Buy It
In light of the Lone Star Reviewer's negative comments,
I decided to visit a local bookstore and see this one for
myself. When I hoisted it by the cover, sure enough, it
peeled away, leaving something that looked like a ragged
phone book. The book description here is very misleading.
The publisher ought to be ashamed of its blurb and retract
it. Better still, why not offer some sample pages and a TOC
so the world can see what's really in it?What you'll find in this bloated book has very little to
do with what goes on inside VS.NET. It's exclusive use
of VB reflects the author's background more than the present
and future reality of .NET. A more accurate title for the
book would be "VB Source Code Generation Using CodeDom."
But don't take my word for it, and certainly don't trust
the author's pals, who came to pump it. Just visit your
own local bookstore and see for yourself.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Bold step forward in the art of code generation
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.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Fine book on model driven generation for .NET
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.
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