Any exprience with Castle ActiveRecord?

Question

Hi all,

I was searching for a light data access framework based on NHibernate. I needed simple CRUD and some simple HQL or LINQ-to-NHhibernate queries. Performance was not an important issue and applications which I'm working on have simple table structure but many tables. This data access framework is going to be used in a ASP.NET Webform application.

Once a time I found S#harp architecture, but it was developed for ASP.NET MVC. Just today I found Castle ActiveRecord. But I'm wondering: If any one has any experience with it? Is it suitable for me? Should I consider any specific matter? What about its future? Is Castle ActiveRecord supposed to be developed and be active in coming years?

Thanks in Advance

Answer 1

Castle ActiveRecord is a fine choice. It is a data layer built on top of NHibernate. Sharp Achitecture is more than just a data layer.

Castle ActiveRecord is actively maintained and supported.

Answer 2

any one has any experience with it?

• About 20000 results on google for "Castle ActiveRecord"
• 15000+ downloads on SourceForge since the early 2.0 bits a year ago.
• 250000+ downloads on SourceForge for Castle RC3 (before ActiveRecord became a stand-alone project)
• 200+ questions on StackOverflow tagged castle-activerecord.

So yes, I'd say someone has experience with it.

Is it suitable for me?

Only you can answer that. Every programmer (or architect or lead developer, if there is one) has to evaluate every piece of technology used for every project.

Should I consider any specific matter?

Learn about the ActiveRecord pattern. Learn about NHibernate. Check out CastleCasts.

What about its future? Is Castle ActiveRecord supposed to be developed and be active in coming years?

Nobody knows the future for sure. But I can tell you that Castle ActiveRecord has worked for lots of people for the last 5+ years, and it's open source. That makes it quite risk-free.