Getting Peers into ASP.NET-MVC

Question

Here where I work I am trying to get the MVC framework accepted as the framework to use moving forward.

The boss is quite keen to move forward but thinks it's a huge risk to take given I'm the only one that knows the framework.

I've sent multiple emails out about training sessions, and put my hand up in many a meeting for again training sessions but no matter how many times I do it I can't seem to get a single one of these people fired up.

I've given small demos and they all ooohh and ahhh at it but when it comes time to actually [learn] something, no one bothers to get on board.

Has anyone encountered the same sort of developer malaise and managed to overcome it?

Answer 1

May be a good sign you need some new peers. ;)

Answer 2

The best way to get people interested in a new technology / methodology or whatever it may be, is to show them advantages. They don't need to be tangible - just enough that they realise.

You need to have a few things to be able to convince people of a point:

• Show them problems that already exist within the current setup. These should be obvious and to a degree, unarguable. If you struggle to find any issues with the current way of doing things - then maybe what you have at the moment is OK after all.
• Show them the benefits of what MVC would bring to them. So easier Unit Testing, Friendly URLs (a .NET4 feature now though), more "at one with the HTML", rather than abstracted away from it with WebForms (this isn't always a benefit), etc.
• Show them its not too different. It's still the same code and ideas that they are used to.

Developers are normally a tricky bunch and they like their technology stack, whatever it may be. Prehistoric or shiny-and-new, whatever: it's their current Awesomeness.

As to how you can go about presenting this information in a format that would engage your peers is a completely different matter. Whatever - it needs to be short and sweet and leave them interested to some degree. You should find that possible to do with just a 5 minute wax-lyrical.

If you manage to mention all this and sell it well - and still your peers don't give a flying monkey about MVC (to at least the degree of curiosity), then your peers may not be "Developers", but merely "people with a day job developing", who just do what they need to and go home. (Nothing necessarily bad about this category of developer - but you'll rarely get them fired up about a new-and-shiny).

Answer 3

While not knowing the personality dynamics of your team, including your boss, he may be the one that needs to be convinced not only that it is a great idea, but also the business value that may lie in the switch itself. If he is convinced that the benefit outweighs the current value, then as a leader, he needs to at least make an effort to influence the team as a whole in that direction.

This is easier said than done, I know; however, echoing the responses above, the kind of resistance we meet with developers completely engrossed in their "technology stack", for its own sake, is typically only dealt with by either mandate or attrition.

It is a difficult situation, but not hopeless. To be honest, when I finally sat down and took a look at ASP.NET MVC, I saw how clean the concept is and have not turned back. I would hope that your peers would see how this could improve their development experience.

Answer 4

As a selling point in your argument, I would convey to your boss/team that your team can use their existing skills in the .NET Framework, C#/VB.NET, css, html, etc. So learning the MVC Framework should not be that drastic for most development teams. When you make your case, you should show these short videos that can be found at [http://www.asp.net/mvc/%5D%5B1%5D:

[link text][1]

[link text][2]

[1]: http://www.asp.net/learn/mvc-videos/video-8144.aspx - Why ASP.NET MVC? (3 mins.) [2]: http://www.asp.net/learn/mvc-videos/video-8145.aspx - Technical Overview (10 mins.)

Try to find some "LIVE" ASP.NET MVC sites to also make your point.