Convention over Configuration: The Haack Response

Posted by Joe Ocampo on December 9, 2007

Yesterday Sean and I talked briefly about Convention over Configuration and how disappointed we both were on MS direction requiring the [ControllerAction] attribute for each action in the controller.  Similar sentiments seen in Ayende’s post as well. 

Less than a day later Phil Haack responds with a “ConventionController”.  This controller gives the convention approach to the ASPMVC framework similar to MR.  I figured it shouldn’t be that difficult for MS to implement this approach and Phil expeditiously verified that. 

Hat’s off to Phil for getting this turned around so quickly and listening to the community.

About Joe Ocampo

My personal philosophy is simple: "Have a good strategy that sets the environment for success through the enablement of the whole. Be agile but with a mind towards pragmatism. Delegate to the best qualified individuals, but don’t be afraid to involve yourself in all parts of a job. Treat everyone with respect, humility, and with a genuine pursuit towards excellence." Respected business and technical leader with expertise in directing organization towards effective results driven outcomes. Proven ability to perform and communicate from both technical and business perspectives. Strong technical and business acumen developed through experience, education and training. Provides the ability to utilize technology, harness business intelligence and execute strategically by optimizing systems, tools and process. Passionate about building people, companies and software by containing cost, maximizing operational throughput and capitalize on revenue. Looks to leverage the strengths of individuals and grow the organization to their maximum potential by harnessing the power of their collective whole and deliver results. Co-Founder of LosTechies.com
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  • http://www.lostechies.com/blogs/sean_chambers Sean Chambers

    Cheers to that.

    I’m very happy that the community say this type of turn around. It definitely alleviates my doubts =)

  • http://www.flux88.com Ben Scheirman

    Yeah that’s really easy to implement, but I have to ask:

    Why in the world do we care about 1 extra attribute? Write a R# template of VS code snippet and be done with it.

  • http://www.lostechies.com/blogs/joe_ocampo/ Joe Ocampo

    @Ben

    Luckily I just answered this question. :-)


    Just because we have been doing it doesn’t mean we have to continue.

    I hate to use this but we are like a bunch of lemming s sometime and we just fall in with the standard MS conventions.

    MR and RoR have been very successful with the Convention over Configuration approach. And I think for us to turn a blind eye towards this approach simply because MS want to change it is a disservice to the community.

    A majority of the MVC framework takes a convention over configuration approach (ie the folder structure). This slight decoration causes a shift in that way of thinking. It is not about a matter of style as it is a matter of adhering to framework principle no matter how esoteric they may be to new comers.

    The fact of the matter is all we are asking for is a choice and I believe Phil and the rest of the MVC team has given us this with the “ConventionController” so now it truly is a matter of style.

    Although I do like Scott’s suggestion about the controller defaulting to this behavior and forcing the “SafeMode” when needed. Similar to VB’s option explicit.