Current Commentary About the “ADO.NET Entity Framework Vote of No Confidence” Manifesto

Moved from LINQ and Entity Framework Posts for 6/25/2008+ on 6/24/2008 at 1600 PDT due to length. Updated: 7/3/2008 0830 PDT with copies of recent Tweets and 7/6/2008 with an added entry.

Here’s a list of some of the more interesting posts about Scott Bellware’s ADO .NET Entity Framework Vote of No Confidence petition, which had collected 417 votes as of July 6, 2008 0720 PDT:

• I'm not a real world developer by Chad Meyer castigates the opposition to the manifesto, including Kathleen Dollard, but in a reasoned way. Be sure to read the comments. (Added: 7/6/2008 0930 PDT.)
• RoyOsherove on Twitter: “Those ‘confidence’ pettitions make me want to vote no confidence in our petty little holier than thou community. Is this kindergarten?” (Added: 7/3/2008 0830 PDT.)
• jongalloway on Twitter: I think it's about time for the @Blowdart Vote Of No Competence (Added: 7/3/2008 0830 PDT.)
• jongalloway on Twitter: I guess we all knew there would be an NHibernate Vote Of No Confidence, right? http://tinyurl.com/5em7ms (Added: 7/3/2008 0830 PDT.)
• The Cathedral, the Bazaar, and Microsoft’s presence on both sides of the Vietnam War of Computer Science by Danny Cohen of Microsoft Consulting Services Israel believes that Microsoft will react to the manifesto “favorably and with an open mind.” (Added: 6/30/2008 0830 PDT.)
• Rejoinder #1 to "Vote of No Confidence in Entity Framework" by Ward Bell of IdeaBlade, which has integrated EF into their DevForce application framework for .NET, contends “[T]his petition is wildly misleading. The dire warnings of ‘potential risks .. to Microsoft customer projects’ are blown way out of proportion. It is one thing to be critical of EF v.1 - to draw attention to its shortcomings as we all have done - and quite another to consign it to damnation.” (Added: 6/30/2008 0830 PDT.)
• I’m not taking on the Alt.NET world by Kathleen Dollard is a detailed response to Scott Bellware’s comment to here earlier post below. [For the uninitiated, BDD is the abbreviation for Behavior-Driven Development, which substitutes for or supplements Test-Driven Development.] (Added: 6/30/2008 0830 PDT.)
• Entity Framework Petition by Kathleen Dollard, .NET code generation authority and Visual Studio Magazine columnist, insists that “Entity Frameworks must not be designed for the group that is best organized and screams the loudest.” Scott Bellware takes her to task for her position in the comments. (Added: 6/28/2008 1340 PDT.)
• An Open Letter to the ALT.NET Community by Justin Etheredge suggests ALT.NET “stick with the teaching and stop with the preaching.” (Added: 6/28/2008 0720 PDT.)
• Jimmy Hoffa and the Entity Framework No Confidence Petition by Frank La Vigne notes that faux Jimmy Hoffa and Scott Guthrie signatories have appeared. I’m waiting for someone to add Barack Obama to the list. (Added: 6/27/2008 1100 PDT.)
• Databash by Andy Leonard observes “You Don't Always Get What You Want” and concludes “It's better to help folks than to complain - even if you sincerely believe your complaining is helping folks, it's not. Really.” (Added: 6/27/2008 1100 PDT.)
• ADO.NET Entity Framework Saga by Jeffrey Schwartz is an updated story for Redmond Developer News with a reference to my post about Ian Cooper’s criticism. (Added: 6/26/2008 1600 PDT.)
• "No Confidence Vote on EF" et al. by Shawn Wildermuth, who objects to the ALT.NET folks’ attack on the Microsoft community in general and Julie Lerman in particular. Shawn sees EF as “a common language for communicating a model” but I believe that’s the Entity Data Model runtime and its XML files. I do believe that the ADO.NET team intended EF to be an O/RM tool, although even they have wavered on that issue. (Added: 6/26/2008 1445 PDT.)
• Entity Framework - Is the sky really falling? by EF maven Julie Lerman, who says the petition “Seems a little over-zealous to me” and refers to me as “Roger ‘Take-No-Prisoners’ Jennings.”
• ADO.NET Entity Framework Beta Testers Stage No Confidence Vote by Jeffrey Schwartz, a straight ahead news story from Redmond Developer News’ Executive Editor.
• ADO .NET Entity Framework Vote of No Confidence by Ayende Rahien, a signatory and primary NHibernate contributor, that includes what would make him overjoyed.
• An Unfortunate Consequence of History by Kevin Hazzard, an NHibernate and LINQ to SQL user, discusses O/RM tools from a Pick and Pick BASIC standpoint and complains about NHibernate’s tuning and management issues.
• Entity Framework vote of no confidence by Jimmie Bogard, a signatory, who “got hosed” by ADO.NET’s DataSets and SQL Server stored procedures.
• ADO.NET Entity Framework Controversy by solution architect Paul Rayner, who expresses confidence that EF v2 will be better.
• The Entity Framework - don't get fooled in what is wrong about it by Sebastien Lambla, who claims to be a “self-congratulatory, self-proclaimed, egotistical doofus,” and proves the claim with this post (thanks to Julie Lerman for the heads-up)
• Entity Framework Vote of No Confidence by Steve Harman points to Ayende’s With the blinders off post about “Gloryhounds” (a term originated by Scott Bellware) who evangelize new [Microsoft] products without learning about alternatives.
• Ado.Net Entity Framework Vote of no confidence ?? by James Knowles, an LLBLGen Pro user suggests giving the EF team a break; Scott Bellware comments.
• ADO.NET Entity Framework Vote of No Confidence by “BlogCoward” says, “The 'Vote of No Confidence' seems to be a restatement of the misgivings, and so initially, it seems a bit odd to make a show of it.”
• Entity Framework Petition of Vote of Non Confidence by Peter Ritchie says, “you have the choice not to use EF; but you also have the choice to help people to not have to deal with the issues detailed in the petition simply because they were not made aware of them.”
• Java Programming - .NET Entity Framework == Entity EJBs? thread on the Sun Developer Network Forum indicates that someone read Ian Cooper’s post.
• Is Entity Framework the pure evil? by Polish programmer Krzysztof Koźmic takes Lech Wałęsa’s agitprop approach to the manifesto. Be sure to read the comments.
• A vote of confidence for the Entity Framework by New Zealand developer Keith Patton offers a detailed refutation of the manifesto’s theses.
• Oh that no-confidence vote on E.F. by Julie Lerman is a reasoned objection to the purpose, and therefore much of the substance, of the petition.

For more background on the “No Confidence” petition, see Tim Mallalieu Addresses “ADO .NET Entity Framework Vote of No Confidence” Manifesto, New Entity Framework Design Blog Announces Transparent v2 Design Process, Ian Cooper Rings in with a Level-Headed Critique of Entity Framework v1.

Technorati tags: Entity Framework, Entity Framework v2, Entity Data Model, EDM, Enterprise Java Beans, EJB, NHibernate