Generating Complete Winform and ASP.NET Applications: eXpressApp Framework - Release Candidate 2 Now Available
by David Hayden ( Florida .NET C# SQL Server ), Filed: Code Generation, .NET Tools
Another offering from Devexpress, eXpressApp Framework - Release Candidate 2, was just made available. As the name implies, this is a code generation tool / framework for creating entire winform and asp.net web applications with complete integration into Visual Studio. Here is a quick summary from the website:
“The eXpressApp Framework by Developer Express is a powerful instrument for creating business applications quickly and easily. A strong modular architecture allows for platform independent domain specific extensions. Examples of typical applications include business/sales/CRM systems, projects, documentation, HR and training class management, and many others. The currently supported target platforms are Windows Forms and ASP.NET 2, and our open architecture allows extensions of either of these platforms as well as the introduction of completely new targets (WPF support is part of our plans).”
I am curious how it stacks up against the Web Client Software Factory, Smart Client Software Factory, and Acropolis. The features specifically target more functionality than the software factories:
- XPO
- The UI Model
- Modularized Architecture
- Base Class Library
- Role-based Security
- Data Validation
- Localization
- Reporting
- Visual Studio IDE Integration
XPO is their O/R Mapper and the concept of a Modularized Architecture sounds a lot like the concept of business modules in the software factories.
I haven't tried eXpressApp Framework, but this would definitely sound more appealing for developers looking for more end-to-end seamless experience building their applications as long as you are happy with all the various components and libraries provided solely by Devexpress. The architecture sounds pretty overwhelming, however, so I wonder just how easily you can customize features and functionality as well as break out of the mold they provide if necessary.
One of the big criticism of the various software factories is that they have been too much of a framework when people only wanted a library of services or some code generation help here and there. However, there is a need for these types of frameworks as long as they aren't too constraining.
eXpressApp Framework Release Candidate 2 now has a go-live license, so the features must be pretty stable and set in this release.
Learn more.
News Feed: David Hayden ( Florida .NET C# SQL Server )
Filed: Code Generation, .NET Tools