Framework Design Guidelines

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Framework Design Guidelines

Framework DesignGuidelines: Conventions, Idioms, and Patterns for Reusable .NET Libraries is a great book even though the title is a mouthful. Thisbook targets people who want to build their own framework or extend the .NETFramework. It walks you through design issues that you might face in an effortto help you build more reliable software.

The layout of this book is very refreshing because it isso straightforward. The authors literally tell you do this or that because it sa best practice type of thing, consider these things in certain situations, avoid these things if possible, and, finally, don t do these things at all. You can tget any more straightforward than that. I also like that the authors includewords of wisdom from prominent people in the .NET community.

The beginning of the book starts with a high-leveldiscussion of framework fundamentals, as well as naming conventions, structs,and enums. This is good information, and the authors make it very easy tounderstand. I recommend this section for beginners; more seasoned programmersmight want to simply skim through it.

The middle chapters get more complicated, covering topicssuch as event designs, extensibility, and exceptions. I recommend readers payparticular attention to the section on exceptions. After reading the chapteryou should have a better understanding of exceptions and how important they arein your framework. As a coder, you may want to avoid exceptions, but the booktells you why you should embrace them.

The end of the book discusses specific patterns by name,as well as when they should be used. It also covers C# coding conventions, and,finally, the use of FxCop. FxCop is a tool that you can run against your codeto ensure it is compliant with rules you set up. The section on FxCop is also amust read. If you were serious enough to read Framework Design Guidelines, download FxCop it complements thebook very well.

Overall, I love this book and heartily recommend it forprogrammers, system architects, and system integrators. This book also complements.NET Framework Standard Library AnnotatedReference, (volume 1 and 2).

David Mack

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Title: Framework Design Guidelines (Conventions,Idioms, and Patterns for Reusable .NET Libraries)

Authors:Krzysztof Cwalina and Brad Abrams

Publisher: Addison-Wesley

ISBN:0-321-24675-6

Web Site: http://www.awprofessional.com/msdotnetseries

Price: US$44.99

Page Count: 384