learning CSLA.NET framework

Question

What will be a good start point for learning CSLA framework.

Terriss

Answer 1

How about these "Getting Started" guides:

• http://www.lhotka.net/cslanet/faq/Getting%20started.ashx
• http://mythicalmanmoth.com/blog/?p=21

Supererogate

Answer 2

Excerpt from an article -

CSLA is cool -- the thing I always tell folks to keep in mind is what I see as its central philosophy, that ALL business logic should be encapsulated in business objects (to as great an extent as is realistically possible, at least). "Business logic" in CSLA includes everything from validation to persistence -- objects are required to know how to valdate their own properties, and also how to persist themselves. With this in mind, the CSLA framework gives you lots of tools to help make it less painful to encapsulate this amount of business logic in business objects. I like CSLA because it helps enforce rigor in OO design.

As far as resources, I'd recommend checking out the "Dot Net Rocks TV" episodes that Rocky Lhotka has done -- they are screencasts, and he goes through the reference app that he ships with CSLA in the first few, then goes into detailed implementations with specific architectures in later ones.

The information on CSLA.NET 2.0 is definitely still relevant, 3.5 is primarily just leveraging the new 3.5 framework features (WCF, etc.) in the context of the basic architecture.

Orignal article is from here - http://forums.asp.net/t/1307040.aspx

Obrian

Answer 3

I guess buying the book would be a start. That's what we did.

Fill

Answer 4

Buying the book is very useful. Not only will you get information about how to use CSLA.net but also Rocky explains his decisions and his motives. Note that there is no book for the current (4.0) release. For the 3.8 relase you can find the book here. There are some major changes between 3.8 and 4.0 regarding the validation rules. You can find some explanations about these changes on Rocky's Blog.

Furthermore, because his framework is completely free, buying the book is a good way to sponsor the work Rocky is doing by creating the framework

Team

"Completely free" is a little misleading. To be productive and avoid painful mistakes, you'll need to buy a book. CSLA is not completely free in the same sense that Apache Httpd, Mercurial, or jQuery are completely free. – Pickup

I think the same can be said for all of the other technologies you listed. I've seen what happens when people think they don't need to invest in learning any framework. I always at least buy some kind of book, even if it's just a beginners guide or something. – Ricardoricca

Answer 5

I would purchase Rocky's book 'Expert C# 2008 Business Objects' which covers CSLA 3.6.

For CSLA 4, Rocky has started a series of ebooks which you can purchase. You can find a summary here - http://www.lhotka.net/weblog/UsingCSLA4SeriesOutline.aspx. The first ebook which provides an overview of CSLA 4 is available here: http://www.lhotka.net/weblog/UsingCSLA4CSLANETOverviewAvailable.aspx.

Rocky also has video series available for purchase on his site, which include a 3.8 series, and a 4 with MVVM series.

Peruse

Answer 6

CSLA is described in detail here. The new book and videos is a great starting point. As a great compliment to the book I would recommend checking out our CSLA 3.8 and 4.0 templates. They come in both a VB.NET and a C# flavor.

Rocky recommends using a Code Generator, and we have the leading set of templates, that will get you up and running in no time.

Thanks -Blake Niemyjski (Author of the CodeSmith CSLA Templates)

Ioab

Answer 7

Nothing like a deadline and a user wanting to see something .... Set a target, get one of the working demos and 'rework' into what you need. Have the 2008 book (if your using 3.8x) or PDF just being release if your going with versio 4 from now Jan 2011.

If your using 3.8 with tracker app (WPF and ASP) where easy enough for me 3 years ago, and were my start (we've built complex WPF and Silverlight add for my business).

Good luck

Foxtrot