The Original Coder blog

Original Coder Libraries w/Layers Architecture

Published by James Higgins on 2019-08-06

I’ve just pushed a new version of the Original Coder Libraries up to GitHub that includes the first draft of the Layers library and architecture.

The libraries are hosted on GitHub: The Original Coder Libraries

This push includes the first version of the Layers architectural library I’ve been working on. It is based on similar architectures I’ve used on a few different projects in the past which proved to be very helpful. From a features and maturity standpoint this could probably be considered the 3rd incarnation (once they are completed, still in alpha).

The library makes it incredibly easy and efficient to build software systems using layers. Especially systems that deal with data that need CRUD (Create, Read, Update and Delete) operations. Using the library it will be possible to implement a full set of CRUD endpoints for a resource (an entity / database table / or the like) in about 100 lines of code.

I’ve included a project named LayerApiMockup that provides an example of what setting up and implementing will be like with the library. It still needs a bit of work and I need to add the add-on libraries for implementing specific technologies (Entity Framework, ASP.NET MVC, etc) but this is a good start.

1 Comment

Initial release of Original Coder Libraries!

Published by James Higgins on 2019-07-29

I’ve created the Original-Coder-Libraries repository on GitHub and uploaded some source code to get things started! They are licensed under the GNU LGPL v3.

The libraries currently contain approximately 3,500 lines of C# according to code metrics. This is a tiny fraction of what I have in my personal libraries and I’ll be adding more in the future.

The OriginalCoder.Common library includes:

Abstract base class for implementing IDisposable
Abstract base class for implementing IDiposable that also automatically cleans up registered children.
Exception classes for use in Original Coder libraries
Comprehensive set of extension methods for reading and writing XML using Linq to XML
Interfaces and classes for returning messages and operation results (mostly intended for use with Web APIs)
Extension methods for working with enumerations
Centralized application configuration for working with DateTimes (such as which formats to use for user display vs data storage).
Many useful DateTime extension methods
Extension methods for working with Type
Extension methods for calculating a cryptographic hash of a disk file
Standard interfaces for defining common properties on classes (Name, Description, Summary, WhenCreated, WhenDeleted, etc).
Extension methods for working with standard object property interfaces.

The OriginalCoder.Data library includes:

Standard interfaces for defining common data properties on classes (WhenCreated, WhenUpdated, WhenDeleted, IsActive).
Extension methods for working with standard object property interfaces.
Standard interfaces for defining unique key properties on classes (Id, Uid, Key)
Extension methods for working with standard key interfaces.

Repository: https://github.com/TheOriginalCoder/Original-Coder-Libraries

Future NuGet Libraries

Published by James Higgins on 2019-06-07

Anyone who has worked with me knows I’m fairly prolific. I tend to write a lot of reusable library & framework code. I hate writing the same code twice, so most of the code I write is reusable and ends up in libraries. Over the years I’ve built up a rather massive set of my own personal C# libraries.

I’ve started work reorganizing my C# libraries so they can be put up on NuGet. Some code is quite old so I’ll likely modernize it to use newer C# features. I already have some unit tests, but I’ll likely add some more. Putting everything up is a large undertaking but I’ll put pieces up as I go along.

Due to being me, I’ll certainly write new stuff along the way. Which is actually how I got here. As part of my Adventures in .NET Core I started writing a backend framework. I’ve written this sort of thing previously for clients and it makes backend development much quicker, easier and more standardized. But I’ve never written one of my own. Writing it for myself means I don’t have to compromises or worry about deadlines, so this should be fun.