Just kidding. Now that the book is done, it's time to write DataClass 3. How will it be different from DataClass or DataConstructor? A lot of ways, actually. I'm not going to plan everything out right here and now. That wouldn't be very in character, would it? However, I do have some high-level goals I want to meet. Here they are in no particular order.
- Add a transparent data model
- Expose parsing capabilities for automation
- Restore a feature from DataConstructor: support for other kinds of data (XML, objects, etc.)
- Extension point for client platforms
- Extension point for database platforms
- First class support for the obvious structures in a database (tables, views, stored procedures, etc.)
- Inferred design
There are a bunch of other "nice to have" features I intend to implement later but for the initial rewrite, I'll stick with that scope. Sadly, yes, you read correctly. Once every two years, I run a little experiment to verify that people who think mocking is bad are crazy. DataClass 2 was that experiment. It's easier to rewrite it the right way with these new goals than to try and change directions with that code base.
There are other things I'm changing, too. Most notably, I'm changing the profit model for DataClass. The compiler and API will be freeware. Anyone can download it and use it for whatever purpose they may have. Then I'm going to write extensions for Visual Studio, Eclipse, and maybe IntelliJ IDEA.
I'll delve more into each topic in a separate entry later as I have time.
