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copied!<p>I am of the view that applications are so different from each other and our understanding of how applications should be written is still very limited. Past Windows Forms applications I have worked on have been so different from each other. Some of the design differences I have seen are (including most combinations):</p> <ul> <li>Directly talk to the database (2 tier)</li> <li>Use a backend that has been written for the given application (3 tier)</li> <li>Use a set of web services that were written for use by many applications and can’t be changed for your application. (Service-oriented architecture)</li> <li>Updates being done by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Create,_read,_update_and_delete" rel="nofollow noreferrer">CRUD</a> operations</li> <li>Updates being done with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_pattern" rel="nofollow noreferrer">command pattern</a> (sending commands to backend server)</li> <li>Lots of usages of <a href="http://www.akadia.com/services/dotnet_databinding.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">data binding</a> / no usages of data binding</li> <li>Most data being “table like” (e.g. invoices) that work well in standard grid controls / need custom controls for most of the UI data.</li> <li>One developer / teams of 10 or 20 developers (just on the UI)</li> <li>Lots of unit test using mocks etc / no unit tests </li> </ul> <p>Therefore I don’t think it’s possible to create one implementation of MVC (or MVP) that always fits well.</p> <p>The best posts I have seen really <strong>explaining</strong> MVC and <strong>why</strong> an MVC system is built the way it is, is the <a href="http://codebetter.com/blogs/jeremy.miller/archive/2007/07/25/the-build-your-own-cab-series-table-of-contents.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer">"Build Your Own CAB" series by Jeremy D Miller</a>. After working though it you should be able to understand your options a lot better. <a href="http://smartclient.codeplex.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Microsoft's Smart Client Guidance (CAB / Microsoft Composite Application Block)</a> should also be considered. It is a bit complex, but it can work well for applications that have a good fit.</p> <p>Selecting an <a href="http://rdn-consulting.com/blog/2008/02/01/selecting-a-mvcmvp-implementation-for-a-winforms-project/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MVC/MVP Implementation for a Winforms Project</a> give an overview that is worth reading. A lot of people like <a href="http://trac.puremvc.org/PureMVC%5FCSharp" rel="nofollow noreferrer">PureMVC</a>. I have never used it, but I would look at it the next time I need a MVC framework.</p> <p>"<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presenter_First" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Presenter First</a>" is a software development approach that combines the ideas of the Model View Presenter (MVP) design pattern and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Test-driven_development" rel="nofollow noreferrer">test-driven development</a>. It lets you start off by writing tests in the customer’s language. For example:</p> <blockquote> <p>"When I click the 'save' button then the file should be saved and the unsaved file warning should disappear.”</p> </blockquote> <p>I have no experience using "Presenter First," but I will give it a try when I get a chance, as it looks very promising.</p> <p>Other Stack Overflow questions you may may wish to look at are <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2406/looking-for-a-mvc-sample-for-winforms">here</a> and <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/122388/how-would-you-implement-mvc-in-a-windowsforms-application">here</a>.</p> <p>If you are thinking of using <strong>WPF</strong> at any point take a look at the <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/dd419663.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Model-View ViewModel (MVVM)</a> pattern. Here is a very good video you should take a look at: <a href="http://blog.lab49.com/archives/2650" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Jason Dolinger on Model-View-ViewModel</a>. </p> <p><a href="http://aviadezra.blogspot.com/2009/08/mvp-mvvm-winforms-data-binding.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">MVVM (Model View View Model) Design Pattern for Winforms</a> give another option that may make it easer to convert to WPF if ever needed. <a href="http://codermike.com/magical-trevor" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Magical.Trevor</a> is yet another MVVM sample for Windows Forms that also includes auto binding based on property names.</p> <hr> <p>Also ask yourself <strong>why</strong> you are using MVC.</p> <ul> <li>Do you wish to be able to unit test as much code as possible?</li> <li>Are you trying to allow as much code as possible to be reused?</li> <li>Are you trying to make your code base easy to understand?</li> <li>101 other reasons that can be valid for a given project.</li> </ul> <p>Once you are clear on your <strong>aims</strong>, it becomes easier to choose one implementation or another.</p>

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