Shey’s Rebellion

Ramzan came and went and it’s time to gear up for the next AgilePakistan.org meeting.  I’m leaning towards ORM with Castle ActiveRecord but I’m open to suggestions, tell me what you want to see!

AgilePakistan’s first workshop was a phenomenal success, over 20 people attended the session and the feedback has been very positive.  I’ve written a small writeup on AgilePakistan’s blog.

A big thank you for everyone who attended the session– big thanks you to Adnan at Pixsense, Alchemy and P@SHA for all of their support.

I’m really excited to announce that I will present Unit testing with NUnit at AgilePakistan.org’s first meeting!

In the presentation I will introduce unit testing, discuss the advantages of unit testing and then we’ll look at how to apply unit testing to your .NET application with NUnit.  Time permitting I will also talk about the motivation behind AgilePakistan.org and the agenda for the next few months.

The first meeting will be held at Alchemy Technologies (across from Sammad Clinic and Dadabhoy University near Hill Park) on August 23, 2008 at 4PM.  Seating is limited, please register by email before 11AM, Friday, August 22, 2008.

Hope to see you there!

I don’t know why this isn’t bigger news:  NASA Spacecraft Confirms Martian Water, Mission Extended.

Laboratory tests aboard NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander have identified water in a soil sample. The lander’s robotic arm delivered the sample Wednesday to an instrument that identifies vapors produced by the heating of samples.

I’ve always equated the use of DataSets anywhere outside the data layer with code smell, it’s a sure sign that a proper domain model doesn’t exist; it’s also just as likely that the application isn’t layered.  Lets look at some of the reasons you should avoid using DataSets.

DataSets don’t properly abstract the database, the developer has to be intrinsically aware of the database schema, he has to know the name of the columns and the type of the columns you are returning in the DataSet.  Anytime a developer wants to use the DataSet he will have to look at the underlying query which creates the DataSet and pick out the field names used in the query.  Instead of understanding the business process, instead of adding value, your developer will be mucking around with database queries trying to figure out which field name to use. 

Additionally, since DataSets are weakly typed, they don’t tell you the type of the column, the developer must know the type of the field and cast the field to the appropriate type.  Every time you cast your run the risk the cast will fail, the value returned could be null or different type.

Since your application/presentation layer is so tightly coupled to the database your design becomes brittle and difficult to change– every time your database schema changes, it’s effects will ripple throughout your system creating a maintenance nightmare. 

What troubles me more though is that DataSets don’t give you the opportunity to create a business logic layer, because DataSets are just data containers you can’t add functionality to them.  Two DataSets can’t interact with each other, you can’t abstract problems. Instead you’re forced to write procedural code to work with DataSets and you’ve surrendered all the benefits of object oriented programming.

Most of the problems associated with DataSets can be solved by using classes that represent your domain model within a well-defined business layer, essentially your represent your data tables with classes.  ORM is immensely useful here, and I’ll discuss it in detail in my next post.

Sometimes, we need someone to remind us, we’re doing it wrong.

Here’s my quick list– you’re doing it wrong if:

• you’re not using ORM.
• you’re using (ADO.NET) data sets
• you’re not refactoring
• you can’t deploy in one step
• you’re not always learning.

stop doing it wrong, start learning how to do it right:  AgilePakistan.org

When I moved back to Pakistan I made a promise with myself, I promised that I would help improve Pakistan. (Yes, I’m arrogant enough to believe that I can make a difference)

The Software Development industry is young; as with all young industries, it’s changing rapidly, new technology is introduced daily, methodolgies are developed and old ideas are abandoned quickly.  Keeping up with the changes is exhausting,  books aren’t easily available and while the internet is useful, you can’t find answers for open ended queries. Software developers in Pakistan need a forum where they can learn about the latest trends in our industry, share knowledge and network.

Mohtashim’s and Aleem’s presentations at the PASHA career fair inspired me to get off my ass and do something– introducing: AgilePakistan.org.  Agile Pakistan is a community of software developers, the goal is to meet once a month to discuss software development, to learn and improve ourselves as software developers.  Anyone and everyone is invited to the meetings, membership is not required, but if your are interested in presenting a topic then please email me at Sheheryar [at] AgilePakistan.org

Castle Active Record Links @ Ayende

Just link dumpin, ignore it.

My copy of Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture came in today– I’m reading it at 4:30 in the morning thinking, "see! I’m not crazy!"

I’ve always considered Software Developers to be a special breed.  Good software developers are driven– they set aside time to hone their technique and learn new methods and technologies, they strive to do better.

If this sounds like you, then read on:  I’m trying to form study group of programmers who are interested in studying software development.  The group would meet once or twice a month to present new ideas, discuss technology related articles and read and refactor code.   

The main focus of the group would be Object oriented programming and design; initially I would like to cover topics such as ORM, Domain Driven Design and Inversion of Control.

Obviously this is for Karachi only, if you’re still interested drop a note in the comments.