Web Client Software Factory :: Composite Web Application Block

This definitely looks like it is worth checking out. We used the Smart Client Composite UI Application Block (CAB), and it saved us a ton of development time when adding new modules.

There is a ramp up time involved for developers, but we developed our own reusable framework around the CAB. We limited the functional touch points of the CAB from the dozens available to about 10, and provide a builders guide to help the new developers get familiar with the framework. We developed it before the release of the Smart Client Software Factory, so I haven't looked into that much.

Our framework add some features to the CAB like a reporting architecture, we used the ASP.NET Membership API for security, built Exception Handling, Error Handling, and Logging using Enterprise Library 2.0, encapsulated it all in a Service Oriented Architecture, and use Product Line Engineering as the development methodology.

The Web Client Software Factory/Composite Web Application Block looks like it will have a sizable ramp up time involved. The payoff using the CAB was worth the ramp up time, and I will be looking into how we can take advantage of this software factory on our web application projects.