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  3. Gripe: No, you can keep your 60 tiny DLLs. I'll find another way.

Gripe: No, you can keep your 60 tiny DLLs. I'll find another way.

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  • M Maximilien

    especially when I have to update the installer packages.

    I'd rather be phishing!

    honey the codewitchH Offline
    honey the codewitchH Offline
    honey the codewitch
    wrote on last edited by
    #8

    I can scarcely imagine. *pats you on the shoulder*

    When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

    1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • L Lost User

      Linnaeus-type programmers. They split everything up into deeply nested hierarchies of boxes-within-boxes-within-boxes. Not satisfied with the level of "separateness" provided by different class and different files and different namespaces, they will use different projects, and even different repositories.

      honey the codewitchH Offline
      honey the codewitchH Offline
      honey the codewitch
      wrote on last edited by
      #9

      *barf*

      When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

      1 Reply Last reply
      0
      • honey the codewitchH honey the codewitch

        What is it with some .NET developers and their desire to segregate their project into a billion different DLLs? Nobody wants to install that. Nobody wants to deal with that. Stop it. Is it a server application? No? Then go soak your head. With a particular side-eye toward MonoTorrent. Edit: I see I'm not alone in this sentiment. I thought I might have been a lone voice in the wilderness here. To the people that disagree, you raise some valid points, but I think context is important - there's a time and a place for lots of DLLs (like server code) and times when it's overdone. I'll cede that if you will.

        When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

        F Offline
        F Offline
        Forogar
        wrote on last edited by
        #10

        Having dozens of DLLs, just to break out the code into bite-sized pieces seems pointless to me - but if there is a "real" need for such then OK. For example: Prior to .NET I was working on a C++ project that ran data-center automation 24/7 and was not supposed to stop, even for updates. I designed a system where there was a "stub" program, that didn't change, but all the functionality was spread across several DLLs. These DLLs were real Dynamic Link Libraries in that they were dynamically loaded by the "stub". When some functionality was added, updated or corrected, the appropriate DLL was put in a specific directory and the stub would detect it, unload the old DLL and load in the new one without stopping the main process. With built-in precautions and locks around certain functionality this worked beautifully all the time. Only very rarely did we have to stop and restart the whole thing. Most of the DLLs were eventually actually loaded by other DLLs in a hierarchy and the "core" DLLs were hardly ever updated. The number of DLLs started at three but eventually grew to, I think, eight or possibly nine as we extended the functionality adding voice interface and telephone alerting and remote support, etc. We had groups of machines running a huge data center (they replaced the operator's console) with one of those running continuously for nearly four years, non-stop. For some reason back then the PCs didn't have to be "updated" or "patched" every other Tuesday just to keep working - so the Windows NT 3.51 and Window NT 4.0 machines just kept running, running, running...

        - I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.

        honey the codewitchH 1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • honey the codewitchH honey the codewitch

          What is it with some .NET developers and their desire to segregate their project into a billion different DLLs? Nobody wants to install that. Nobody wants to deal with that. Stop it. Is it a server application? No? Then go soak your head. With a particular side-eye toward MonoTorrent. Edit: I see I'm not alone in this sentiment. I thought I might have been a lone voice in the wilderness here. To the people that disagree, you raise some valid points, but I think context is important - there's a time and a place for lots of DLLs (like server code) and times when it's overdone. I'll cede that if you will.

          When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

          R Offline
          R Offline
          RickZeeland
          wrote on last edited by
          #11

          Sometimes it is possible to merge these little f*ckers into one DLL or EXE with the help of ILMerge or Fody Costura. I also found this useful in case of conflicts with projects using different versions of NewtonSoft.Json.dll :-\

          honey the codewitchH 1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • F Forogar

            Having dozens of DLLs, just to break out the code into bite-sized pieces seems pointless to me - but if there is a "real" need for such then OK. For example: Prior to .NET I was working on a C++ project that ran data-center automation 24/7 and was not supposed to stop, even for updates. I designed a system where there was a "stub" program, that didn't change, but all the functionality was spread across several DLLs. These DLLs were real Dynamic Link Libraries in that they were dynamically loaded by the "stub". When some functionality was added, updated or corrected, the appropriate DLL was put in a specific directory and the stub would detect it, unload the old DLL and load in the new one without stopping the main process. With built-in precautions and locks around certain functionality this worked beautifully all the time. Only very rarely did we have to stop and restart the whole thing. Most of the DLLs were eventually actually loaded by other DLLs in a hierarchy and the "core" DLLs were hardly ever updated. The number of DLLs started at three but eventually grew to, I think, eight or possibly nine as we extended the functionality adding voice interface and telephone alerting and remote support, etc. We had groups of machines running a huge data center (they replaced the operator's console) with one of those running continuously for nearly four years, non-stop. For some reason back then the PCs didn't have to be "updated" or "patched" every other Tuesday just to keep working - so the Windows NT 3.51 and Window NT 4.0 machines just kept running, running, running...

            - I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.

            honey the codewitchH Offline
            honey the codewitchH Offline
            honey the codewitch
            wrote on last edited by
            #12

            I've run into similar situations. I usually write them like a "microkernel" - and make a message/signal passing system usually on top of the OS's mechanisms (GUIless window handles in windows or signals in unix) the microkernel is basically just a router/dispatcher and is the only thing that is always loaded. sometimes i make them hotpatchable via bootstrap. but then yeah, the rest of it is in separate binaries. i used to do a lot of real time embedded for critical systems and so this came up a lot. but you can't write realtime code in .NET anyway. =)

            When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

            1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • R RickZeeland

              Sometimes it is possible to merge these little f*ckers into one DLL or EXE with the help of ILMerge or Fody Costura. I also found this useful in case of conflicts with projects using different versions of NewtonSoft.Json.dll :-\

              honey the codewitchH Offline
              honey the codewitchH Offline
              honey the codewitch
              wrote on last edited by
              #13

              makes one wonder how many projects would be this way if Microsoft had thought to make static linking a first class function of .NET

              When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

              1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • honey the codewitchH honey the codewitch

                What is it with some .NET developers and their desire to segregate their project into a billion different DLLs? Nobody wants to install that. Nobody wants to deal with that. Stop it. Is it a server application? No? Then go soak your head. With a particular side-eye toward MonoTorrent. Edit: I see I'm not alone in this sentiment. I thought I might have been a lone voice in the wilderness here. To the people that disagree, you raise some valid points, but I think context is important - there's a time and a place for lots of DLLs (like server code) and times when it's overdone. I'll cede that if you will.

                When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

                L Offline
                L Offline
                Lost User
                wrote on last edited by
                #14

                maybe some manager decided to separate it into lots of DLL's by lots of different programmers so no single person had all the pieces to steal the application. in real life some companies do do this with regard to part manufacturing in China ...often not realizing many of those companies actually sub the work (or are commission agents) for the same large [actual] contract manufacturer

                Message Signature (Click to edit ->)

                honey the codewitchH 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • L Lost User

                  maybe some manager decided to separate it into lots of DLL's by lots of different programmers so no single person had all the pieces to steal the application. in real life some companies do do this with regard to part manufacturing in China ...often not realizing many of those companies actually sub the work (or are commission agents) for the same large [actual] contract manufacturer

                  Message Signature (Click to edit ->)

                  honey the codewitchH Offline
                  honey the codewitchH Offline
                  honey the codewitch
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #15

                  seems silly in .NET's case due to perfect type info / reverse engineering. An obsfucator won't slow down someone who worked on the project much, I think.

                  When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

                  L 1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • honey the codewitchH honey the codewitch

                    that's fair but i'm talking about lots of little 16k dlls and such. if you can't manage that much source in a single project, there's something wrong with the way you're factoring your code, IMO. Adding, with small apps that need to update I just make them update themselves by bootstrap

                    When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

                    L Offline
                    L Offline
                    Lost User
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #16

                    codewitch honey crisis wrote:

                    that's fair but i'm talking about lots of little 16k dlls and such.

                    Which is perfect. Do consider that a library is loaded on demand (when the runtime requires it). Put everything in an exe, and it is all loaded into memory before being executed. It's not like an end-user need to know ANYTHING about what is present in the installation-folder, nor does the end-user need to manipulate those libs.

                    Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

                    honey the codewitchH 1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • L Lost User

                      codewitch honey crisis wrote:

                      that's fair but i'm talking about lots of little 16k dlls and such.

                      Which is perfect. Do consider that a library is loaded on demand (when the runtime requires it). Put everything in an exe, and it is all loaded into memory before being executed. It's not like an end-user need to know ANYTHING about what is present in the installation-folder, nor does the end-user need to manipulate those libs.

                      Bastard Programmer from Hell :suss: If you can't read my code, try converting it here[^] "If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.

                      honey the codewitchH Offline
                      honey the codewitchH Offline
                      honey the codewitch
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #17

                      i think it's a matter of degree. I'd put - for .NET - perfect being somewhere in the neighborhood of 150k and up, assuming generics are being used. Adding, my criticism of the installbase is more from a dev and maintenance perspective. Sometimes there's such thing as overfactoring.

                      When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

                      L 1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • honey the codewitchH honey the codewitch

                        What is it with some .NET developers and their desire to segregate their project into a billion different DLLs? Nobody wants to install that. Nobody wants to deal with that. Stop it. Is it a server application? No? Then go soak your head. With a particular side-eye toward MonoTorrent. Edit: I see I'm not alone in this sentiment. I thought I might have been a lone voice in the wilderness here. To the people that disagree, you raise some valid points, but I think context is important - there's a time and a place for lots of DLLs (like server code) and times when it's overdone. I'll cede that if you will.

                        When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

                        C Offline
                        C Offline
                        CodeWraith
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #18

                        codewitch honey crisis wrote:

                        I see I'm not alone in this sentiment.

                        Too bad that this is not a question of democracy. :-)

                        codewitch honey crisis wrote:

                        think context is important

                        A pearl of wisdom. What will come next? Water is wet? :-)

                        codewitch honey crisis wrote:

                        there's a time and a place for lots of DLLs (like server code) and times when it's overdone

                        ANd yet another pearl of wisdom! As if there was anything that will not become problematic if it's misused.

                        codewitch honey crisis wrote:

                        I'll cede that if you will.

                        Too gracious. :-) If you have several products, it might be wise to have shared components, so that all the projects profit from matured and well maintained code. The result is a pile of DLLs, but that may be a sign of quality and nothing bad at all. No matter where it appears, server or not. And now follow me to the Emperor. He will show you the Dark Side.

                        I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.

                        honey the codewitchH 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • C CodeWraith

                          codewitch honey crisis wrote:

                          I see I'm not alone in this sentiment.

                          Too bad that this is not a question of democracy. :-)

                          codewitch honey crisis wrote:

                          think context is important

                          A pearl of wisdom. What will come next? Water is wet? :-)

                          codewitch honey crisis wrote:

                          there's a time and a place for lots of DLLs (like server code) and times when it's overdone

                          ANd yet another pearl of wisdom! As if there was anything that will not become problematic if it's misused.

                          codewitch honey crisis wrote:

                          I'll cede that if you will.

                          Too gracious. :-) If you have several products, it might be wise to have shared components, so that all the projects profit from matured and well maintained code. The result is a pile of DLLs, but that may be a sign of quality and nothing bad at all. No matter where it appears, server or not. And now follow me to the Emperor. He will show you the Dark Side.

                          I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.

                          honey the codewitchH Offline
                          honey the codewitchH Offline
                          honey the codewitch
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #19

                          If your DLLs are 16k is it worth sharing binaries rather than including a source file? Adding, as long as we're pointing out the obvious, no this isn't a democracy. Duh. I am emperor of my own projects, and my supers are emperors of my professional projects. Whomever the IP goes to is the arbiter of what it looks like. Water is wet. Note: I wasn't calling for a vote. Also obvious.

                          When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

                          C 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • honey the codewitchH honey the codewitch

                            seems silly in .NET's case due to perfect type info / reverse engineering. An obsfucator won't slow down someone who worked on the project much, I think.

                            When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

                            L Offline
                            L Offline
                            Lost User
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #20

                            shhhhh, don' tell the managers

                            Message Signature (Click to edit ->)

                            honey the codewitchH 1 Reply Last reply
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                            • L Lost User

                              shhhhh, don' tell the managers

                              Message Signature (Click to edit ->)

                              honey the codewitchH Offline
                              honey the codewitchH Offline
                              honey the codewitch
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #21

                              As a rule, I tell managers as little as I absolutely have to. It's better for everyone that way.

                              When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • honey the codewitchH honey the codewitch

                                If your DLLs are 16k is it worth sharing binaries rather than including a source file? Adding, as long as we're pointing out the obvious, no this isn't a democracy. Duh. I am emperor of my own projects, and my supers are emperors of my professional projects. Whomever the IP goes to is the arbiter of what it looks like. Water is wet. Note: I wasn't calling for a vote. Also obvious.

                                When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

                                C Offline
                                C Offline
                                CodeWraith
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #22

                                codewitch honey crisis wrote:

                                If your DLLs are 16k is it worth sharing binaries rather than including a source file?

                                Size is irrelevant. The contents do. For example, I have a tiny DLL that only implements the baseclasses and interfaces for presenters and views for the MVP pattern. With this I was able to port an application from WebForms to WinForms, from there to WebForms and from there to my own UI that runs in a 3D engine under DirectX. All I had to do was to rewrite the views, which still were dependent on the presentation technology. That's all.

                                I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.

                                honey the codewitchH 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • honey the codewitchH honey the codewitch

                                  What is it with some .NET developers and their desire to segregate their project into a billion different DLLs? Nobody wants to install that. Nobody wants to deal with that. Stop it. Is it a server application? No? Then go soak your head. With a particular side-eye toward MonoTorrent. Edit: I see I'm not alone in this sentiment. I thought I might have been a lone voice in the wilderness here. To the people that disagree, you raise some valid points, but I think context is important - there's a time and a place for lots of DLLs (like server code) and times when it's overdone. I'll cede that if you will.

                                  When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

                                  K Offline
                                  K Offline
                                  Kevin Marois
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #23

                                  I have to disagree. A class, and therefore it's assembly, should do one thing and one thing only. if you're not segregating your functionality across multiple assemblies, then you probably have a few different problems. For one, It's harder to share code across apps. Consider a DAL assembly. it has one purpose - work on the DB. Multiple apps can use the same DAL assembly. Separating it into its own assembly mean greater code reuse. And, as others have said, it's a whole lot easier to update a small assembly than a large boated EXE.

                                  If it's not broken, fix it until it is. Everything makes sense in someone's mind. Ya can't fix stupid.

                                  honey the codewitchH 1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • C CodeWraith

                                    codewitch honey crisis wrote:

                                    If your DLLs are 16k is it worth sharing binaries rather than including a source file?

                                    Size is irrelevant. The contents do. For example, I have a tiny DLL that only implements the baseclasses and interfaces for presenters and views for the MVP pattern. With this I was able to port an application from WebForms to WinForms, from there to WebForms and from there to my own UI that runs in a 3D engine under DirectX. All I had to do was to rewrite the views, which still were dependent on the presentation technology. That's all.

                                    I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.

                                    honey the codewitchH Offline
                                    honey the codewitchH Offline
                                    honey the codewitch
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #24

                                    interface DLLs are fair because of the way .NET works. In the general case however, we'll have to agree to disagree.

                                    When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

                                    C 1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • K Kevin Marois

                                      I have to disagree. A class, and therefore it's assembly, should do one thing and one thing only. if you're not segregating your functionality across multiple assemblies, then you probably have a few different problems. For one, It's harder to share code across apps. Consider a DAL assembly. it has one purpose - work on the DB. Multiple apps can use the same DAL assembly. Separating it into its own assembly mean greater code reuse. And, as others have said, it's a whole lot easier to update a small assembly than a large boated EXE.

                                      If it's not broken, fix it until it is. Everything makes sense in someone's mind. Ya can't fix stupid.

                                      honey the codewitchH Offline
                                      honey the codewitchH Offline
                                      honey the codewitch
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #25

                                      I don't believe every class deserves its own assembly. An assembly should perform a series of tightly related tasks, not a single task, but that's me.

                                      When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

                                      K C 2 Replies Last reply
                                      0
                                      • honey the codewitchH honey the codewitch

                                        I don't believe every class deserves its own assembly. An assembly should perform a series of tightly related tasks, not a single task, but that's me.

                                        When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

                                        K Offline
                                        K Offline
                                        Kevin Marois
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #26

                                        codewitch honey crisis wrote:

                                        I don't believe every class deserves its own assembly.

                                        I didn't say that. I said each class should do one thing. And each assembly should do one thing.

                                        If it's not broken, fix it until it is. Everything makes sense in someone's mind. Ya can't fix stupid.

                                        honey the codewitchH 1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • honey the codewitchH honey the codewitch

                                          interface DLLs are fair because of the way .NET works. In the general case however, we'll have to agree to disagree.

                                          When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.

                                          C Offline
                                          C Offline
                                          CodeWraith
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #27

                                          And what exactly is the general case we don't agree on?

                                          I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats. His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.

                                          honey the codewitchH 1 Reply Last reply
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