by jmorris
28. April 2011 23:06
This is one of the most timely and practical books I have ever read. If you are using NHibernate 3.0 and any of it’s “satellite” FOSS projects and you need a reference on how the community is using it, buy this book.
As the name implies, the book is laid out in the same manner as a “cookbook” with each chapter grouping together several “recipes”. These recipes illustrate how the community in general is using NHIbernate each feature or API and while they may not cover every scenario, are usually enough to get you going in the right direction.
The chapters each cover one of the major components of NHibernate, for instance, there are chapters covering of fundamentals of NHibernate:
- Models and Mappings
- Configuration and Schema
- Session and Transactions
- Queries
Plus additional chapters on the practical usage of NHibernate:
- Testing NHibernate
- Creating a Data Access Layer
- Extending NHibernate
- Using the NHibernate Contribution Projects
Each chapter is divided into a series of “recipes”, for instance Using the Conversation per Business Transaction Pattern, and then offers an explanation of what the said topic is or does. Then it goes into sections on:
- How to do it: detailed description what you need to do to get the example working
- How it works: detailed description about what is going on behind the scenes
- There’s more: any additional information or examples that adds value to the recipe
- Getting Ready: gives information that is required to get the recipe to work – e.g. download the project binaries from http://code.google.com/p/unhaddins
Pros:
- Easy to read
- Packed full of timely examples
- Layout is easy to follow and comprehend
- Will get you up and running with NHIbernate very quickly
Cons:
The author’s blog: http://www.jasondentler.com/blog/