5 months to make my first post? Yikes! I need to get on the ball.
But now seems like the perfect time to jump into things with the release of the
ASP.NET 3.5 Extensions Preview coming soon (supposedly this week, but I haven't been able to find it yet) which features the MS MVC Framework that the Alt.Net community has been so excited for.
WIth the release imminent, I've been thinking about a few things. Not things like predicting syntax, interoperability or how MS MVC will ease TDD.
I'm wondering how this release will affect the community. Not just the Alt.Net community - those whom have already bought into the idea of
reaching outside of the mainstream. I'm wondering if the backing of Microsoft will lead those developers whom are perfectly content with doing things the "Microsoft way" with giving MVC a shot, now that it, in a way,
is the Microsoft way. Or at least it could be.
Furthermore, will Microsoft promote their MVC architecture as the new way to do things? With Ruby On Rails getting a lot of attention lately, Microsoft may make a big deal about their implementation of a similar framework. Can we expect to see code samples and tutorials in MSDN, featured prominently?
As someone who has taken a strong interest in MVC through working with MonoRail, I'd be overjoyed if Microsoft would push this framework as the new standard. Imagine removing the pressure points of trying to sell this technique to management and other team members? No more fighting the uphill battle trying to explain that this separation of concerns simplifies code, makes things more testable, maintainable, etc. No more hitting walls of resistance because developers would rather not leave their comfort zone. Instead of trying to sell MVC as a better way, we'll be able to say "this is the Microsoft way!"
I obviously don't have the answers, only the questions. So what does everyone else think? Will MS make a big deal out of this release? And what would you LIKE to see them do, and why? (I bet you didn't expect a pop quiz from my first blog post!)