So here’s the deal... lately Rob has been kicking the hornet’s nest and stirring up all kinds of controversy, and discussion, amongst the asp.net community. The conversation is mainly focused around the use of inline scripting and plain old HTML camp versus the more traditional asp.net way of doing things with all server side programming and PostBacks.
The conversation is challenging some of the core concepts that many asp.net developers hold true. Concepts and practices that Microsoft has handed down as gospel over the past several years.
It’s a good old fashioned holy war. The kind that gets folks on both sides of the issue excited and fire-up. And this developer thinks that is a Good ThingTM.
Inline scripting is cool with me!
In my not so humble opinion, there is nothing wrong with inline scripting as long as we’re only using the scripting to help with the presentation. By no means should we be intermixing business logic into the presentation part of the application.
The challenge is enforcing the Separation of Concerns that keeps our business logic from getting tied up in a big spaghetti-ball with our presentation logic.
It’s about responsibility and discipline
Joe Brinkman really got to the heart of the issue in his comment to Rob’s post:
I could just as easily fall into doing business logic in my inline code… I could just as easily fall into doing business logic in my code behind… But, if I am a disciplined programmer I could just as easily continue to be disciplined and create great code, whether I am doing it inline, in code-behind or in a webcontrol. I don’t care what programming style you choose, if you are not disciplined in your use of that style, you will fall into bad habits.
It doesn’t matter what pattern, paradigm, or programming style you believe is the right way. If you get lazy you’re going to end up with a big bowl of spaghetti code, complete with big-balls-of-mud tossed in for a little extra flavor.
Challenge your own beliefs
Staying disciplined is important, but don’t forget to to keep your eyes and mind open to new ideas and approaches. Remember, there is a whole world of developers out there struggling through similar problems, fighting a common battle. Take the time to listen to what they have to say - you might just learn something that makes your own life better.
Be a part of the conversation
If you’ve not yet do so, I’d highly recommend taking a peak for yourself. Get involved and be part of the conversation: