Grigori Melnik: Thoughts on Agile Software Engineering and Beyond : EntLib Contrib

Enterprise Library reaches 2 million downloads!

gmelnik — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 02:49:46 GMT

Enterprise Library has a broad reach and adoption. No wonder, since it embodies many of the proven .NET development practices and ships with the code, tests and hands-on labs – lots to reuse and lots to learn from. The EntLib community has welcomed more than 2 million downloads worldwide! At least 10% of Fortune 500 companies use Enterprise Library (that’s who we know of). In addition, I’ve noticed that employers now list specifically EntLib skills in their developer job ads on monster and workopolis.

To celebrate the 2M milestone, our p&p colleagues surprised us with a cake. A slice goes to everyone who has ever worked on application blocks or the library itself (one day I’ll be able to do a better job and acknowledge each and everyone of you!) as well as to all community members who have used EntLib, commented on it, reported bugs, suggested improvements, written extensions. It’s been five years since this effort began and the tremendous success of EntLib today is largely due to all of you! Thank you! We look forward to continuing collaboration with you.

Don’t forget to check out our Codeplex development site where you can see what’s coming next (in v5) and download most recent code drops.

EntLibContrib – May 2009 Release and future plans

gmelnik — Wed, 06 May 2009 02:02:59 GMT

Two of our community champions François Tanguay and Stephen Phillips just pushed out a new release of EntLibContrib. This is the final round-up of all of the user contributions built around the Enterprise Library v3.1 core. They are now working on the upgrade to the EntLib v4.1 core.

The latest release of EntLibContrib contains the following functionality:

Common Block extensions
- TypeConfigurationElement<T>, AnonymousConfigurationElement
Data Access Application Block extensions
- MySql, SQLite and SqlEx providers
Exception Handling Application Block extensions
- SqlException Wrap Handler
Logging Application Block extensions
- LogParser, TimeStampParser
Policy Injection Application Block extensions
- PostSharp4EntLib
- New matching rules: And, Or and Not
- New call handlers: CursorCallHandler, OneWayCallHandler, SynchronizedCallHandler, ThreadSafeCallHandler, TransactionScopeCallHandler
Resource Application Block 3.1
- Configurable providers for Globalization and Localization
- Full application block complete with support for the console, instrumentation and group policies
Validation Application Block extensions
- New validators: CollectionCountValidator, CompositeRulesetValidator, TypeValidator<T>, ObjectValidator<T>, EnumDefinedValidator
- Designtime enhancements: Lightweight type picker, Test command
- Other extensions: Default validators, Argument Validation, ExternallyConfigurableObjectValidator

The Enterprise Library Contribution Project is to be revamped and upgraded to work from the Entlib v4.1 core - This will also include VS2008 solutions and projects and be built using .NET framework v3.5 SP1. To start the ball rolling the Resource Application Block has been upgraded to v4.1 and a new Query Application Block v4.1 has been added to provide the next level of integration for data storage. With the DAAB you got separation from the Database vendor with QAB you get separation from the data storage type with providers for the DAAB, Xml files and Web Services.

Other separate releases hosted on the EntLibContrib site are:

Standalone Validation Application Block 1.2: adds deep WPF automatic object validating data-binding via a new ValidationBinding markup extension.
Extended SQL Data Access Block 3.1.1: Now integrated into the main EntLibContrib release.

Other contributions in the source code but not in the latest release:

Query Application Block 4.1 New - Next level of integration up from the DAAB providing a common interface for data stored in a DB, XML file or Web/WCF service
Resource Application Block 4.1 New - Upgraded to include Unity integration and to work with EntLib4.1 core and VS2008
The Application Block Software Factory (needs GAX)
The Strong-Naming Guidance Package (needs GAX)

Kudos to Stephen and François! Great job, community! It’s good to see passion around improving and extending the EntLib. I would like to acknowledge the following contributions and contributors in particular:

MySQL Data provider = Wesley Hobbie
SQLite Data Provider = Kenneth Scott
Extended SQL Data Provider = Chris Dufour
SQL Exception Wrap Handler = Tom Hollander
LogParser = Alois Kraus, Randy E. and Mark Seemann
PostSharp4EntLib = Gael Fraiteur
Policy Injection Extensions = Olaf Conijn and François Tanguay
Resource Application Block = Steve Phillips
Validation Application Block extensions = Tom Hollander, Olaf Conijn, Martin Lapierre, Martin Bennedik and François Tanguay
Standalone VAB = Daniel Cazzulino
Common Extensions = Francois Tanguay

Look forward to the next EntLibContrib release!

Enterprise Library FAQs wiki now open

gmelnik — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 06:13:01 GMT

Greetings, the Enterprise Library user community!

Today the patterns & practices EntLib team together with the EntLib support team from Avanade is pleased announce the Enterprise Library Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) wiki. We’ve done a sweep of discussion topics through the Codeplex site and our mailboxes and distilled a collection of tips, tweaks, pointers and trouble shooting methods to most frequently asked questions. Check it out!

This is a part of our continuing effort to improve learnability and ease of use of the Enterprise Library.

Importantly, this is a live wiki, not a static document (though if you prefer a printable version, we’ve made one available too). Feel free to comment on any of the answers with your additional suggestions or tricks you want to share. Also, if you have encountered the same question many times and you know how to answer but do not see it on the list, go ahead, add it. Please make sure your answers are meaningful and helpful (an easy way to determine if they are, is whether somebody had thanked you for those answers previously :)

Where did the Application Block Software Factory go?

gmelnik — Thu, 22 May 2008 15:41:00 GMT

As I mentioned in the announcement of the Enterprise Library 4, two pieces were removed from the release: Application Block Software Factory and Strong-Naming Guidance Package. These are made available as a separate download on EntLibContrib. Here’s the direct link. Both require GAX.

Enterprise Library 4.0 for Visual Studio 2008 released!

gmelnik — Sat, 17 May 2008 00:16:00 GMT

Friends, I am extremely excited to announce the release of the Enterprise Library 4.0 for Visual Studio 2008. Congratulations to the team!

Quick Links:

– MSDN site: http://msdn.microsoft.com/entlib

– Community Forum: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=119312

– Community Extensions: http://codeplex.com/entlibcontrib

What is Enterprise Library?

Enterprise Library is a collection of reusable software components (application blocks) designed to assist software developers with common enterprise development challenges (such as logging, validation, caching, exception handling, and many others). Application blocks are a type of guidance encapsulating Microsoft recommended development practices; they are provided as source code plus documentation that can be used "as is," extended, or modified by developers to use on complex, enterprise-level line-of-business development projects.

Goals for Enterprise Library

Enterprise Library is a collection of application blocks intended for use by developers who build complex, enterprise-level applications. Enterprise Library is used when building applications that are typically to be deployed widely and to interoperate with other applications and systems. In addition, they generally have strict security, reliability, and performance requirements. The goals of Enterprise Library are the following:

Consistency. All Enterprise Library application blocks feature consistent design patterns and implementation approaches.

Extensibility. All application blocks include defined extensibility points that allow developers to customize the behavior of the application blocks by adding their own code.

Ease of use. Enterprise Library offers numerous usability improvements, including a graphical configuration tool, a simpler installation procedure, and clearer and more complete documentation and samples.

Integration. Enterprise Library application blocks are designed to work well together or individually.

What’s New in v4.0?

This release of Enterprise Library includes the following:

– Integration with the Unity Application Block

– Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) 2.0 support and improved instrumentation

– Performance improvements (particularly, in the Logging Application Block)

– Pluggable Cache Managers

– Visual Studio 2008 support

– Bug fixes

Note: existing public APIs (v3.1) are still supported.

The Application Block Software Factory and the Strong Naming Guidance Package are not included in this release but are available as a separate download. Thus, there is no longer a dependency on Guidance Automation Extensions (GAX).

For the detailed list of all changes, see About This Release of Enterprise Library.

Enterprise Library by Numbers:

2003	Year when the first application block was released
2005	Year when v1 of Enterprise library was released.
1,290,000	Total number of downloads of Enterprise Library since the first release.
»470,000	Total number of visits to the community site (since Dec 2006 when the Codeplex site was launched)
»1,600	Number of discussion threads on the community site
54%	NPS (Net Promoter Score)
6	Number of Enterprise Library releases (v1.0, v1.1, v2.0, v3.0, v3.1, v4.0)
9	Number of Application blocks in Enterprise Library 4.0
19	Number of weekly iterations to build Enterprise Library 4.0
401	Number of interim builds of Enterprise Library 4.0
»900	Number of pages of documentation in V4.0
»8,000	Number of automated tests cases in V4.0
»100,000	Number of executable lines of code in V4.0

Getting Started

If you are new to the Enterprise Library:

− read the Introduction to the Enterprise Library;

− download, compile and run the QuickStart samples—study the code;

− read through the related QuickStart Walkthroughs and “Key Scenarios” sections of the documentation;

− practice the Hands-On Labs;

− join the webcast in June 2008 (the exact date will be announced on the Enterprise Library landing page).

If you already know and love the Enterprise Library:

− check out the change log for this release;

− upgrade to V4.0—no code change is required—simply update the references to the corresponding application block assemblies and to the common assemblies;

− download the updated QuickStarts and run through the Unity-integrated examples to get the flavor of new dependency injection style of using the Enterprise Library;

− join the webcast in June 2008 (I’ll announce the exact date later).

Happy Coding!

Information on Microsoft patterns & practices

– Visit us at http://msdn.microsoft.com/practices/ to see the full line of existing patterns & practices.

Unity Extensibility Workshop

gmelnik — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 22:13:00 GMT

Microsoft Main Campus (Building 99)
February 18-19, 2008
Redmond, WA

Description

Unity is Microsoft’s lightweight, extensible dependency injection container.

Microsoft patterns & practices will host Unity Extensibility Workshop to walk the participants through the design of Unity container and its extensibility model. You will become familiar with all aspects of the container infrastructure and container extensions: from using existing extensions to building your own. A special attention will be given to the integration of Unity with Enterprise Library 4.0 and the refactored application blocks. Because the workshop will be hosted by the Enterprise Library team, you will also have the opportunity to ask questions and potentially influence the future of the Enterprise Library.

Purpose

− Transfer knowledge from Microsoft patterns & practices experts and authors of Unity/EntLib4.0 to attendees about building container extensions and integrating them with Unity;

− Transfer knowledge from the attendees to Microsoft experts about the common extensions that are useful in their application contexts;

− Advance hands-on exercises for others in the software engineering community to learn from.

Prerequisites

− This is an advanced, participatory workshop. It is highly recommended you have a working knowledge of programming in the DI style. There will be some introductory content around the technologies, but there will be a heavy focus on writing C# code.

− You must have prior experience using one of the existing DI containers, such as Spring.NET, Castle/Windsor, Structure Map etc.

− It is recommended you read “Deconstructing ObjectBuilder” posts by Chris Tavares.

− You must bring a laptop and a VPC will be provided. If you can have Microsoft Virtual PC installed ahead of time, it will save you from having to install it after you arrive. This will prevent you from having any other system requirements on the machine.

− If you plan on attending, please think of at least one extension idea you would like to introduce to Unity. One of the main reasons we’re hosting this workshop is to discover and share particularly valuable and important extensions (so we can make the underlying extensibility mechanism as easy as possible). We will ask you to define your scenarios at some point while you are here.

Cost

− There is no registration fee for the workshop.

− Attendees are responsible for making and paying for their own travel to and from Bldg 99 in Redmond, WA.

− Attendees are responsible for their lodging accommodations during the workshop. Suggestions can be provided after registering.

− Breakfast and lunch will be provided on all 2 days and a dinner event will be provided on Tuesday night (Feb 19).

Registering

We apologize for the short notice, but please send your info in by Feb 15. Attendance is limited to 25 people and registrations are based on the first come-first serve basis, so please RSVP by sending a note to Grigori Melnik as soon as possible. In the email, please provide the following information about each attendee:

− Full name

− Company name

− Software engineering background

− Types of DI containers used

− Email address (required for internet access)

− If a vegetarian lunch is required

Feel free to contact me for any other questions.

EntLib Contrib - community-developed extensions to Enterprise Library - September release

gmelnik — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 22:37:00 GMT

I'd like to invite current users of EntLib to check out the recent EntLib Contrib release - it's worth it - see 5 good reasons for this!

Congratulations to Tom Hollander and Olaf Conijn who coordinate the project and everyone who's been involved!

In his announcement, Tom invites participation in the future work - I'd like to encourage you to get involved as well!

EntLib Contrib update

gmelnik — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 06:32:00 GMT

The Enterprise Library Contrib July 2007 bundle (driven by Olaf Conijn) has been released. Lots of awesome features. Check it out! http://www.codeplex.com/entlibcontrib

Also, if you have good ideas and you do something really cool extending EntLib, hopefully this release will encourage you to share it with community as well.