Frameworks have become the rage in OO application development, and despite the inherent need for programmers to build it themselves, using a well designed and well supported framework can save you significant time when developing applications for the web. Let's face it, web applications have a whole set of constraints and threats that local applications don't have, not the least of which is security. An IT Strategy Consultant can help you choose a framework that will boost your productivity and make your applications more secure.
A good framework relies on well researched design patterns like Model-View-Controller (MVC) to make it easier to apply coding techniques like Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY). While this can appear to make applications more complex, in practice a modular application based on an MVC framework will help maintain consistency of the application. If there is only one piece of code that calculates item prices, then wherever those prices are needed, they will always be calculated the same way. This may seem totally intuitive, but you would be surprised the number of applications I have seen where the same task is coded separately in each place it is needed. In fact that is how the monolithic programming style worked. Each program contained all of its code, and it was, usually, easy to see where that program needed to be changed to fix the pricing rule. Unfortunately, it was much harder to find all the programs that the pricing rule needed to be changed in.
A good framework will contain an abstraction layer to shield you from the nuances of your specific database. When the time comes to change database engines you won't be stuck with a major rewrite. Yea, I know you have used the XXX database forever, and will never change. And in Cincinnati, pigs can fly! Acquisitions, mergers, changing business requirements, and other things can cause your simple IT Infrastructure to become complicated beyond your ability to effectively manage it. Consolidation frequently involves choosing a database and porting everything else over to it.
A good framework has a thriving developer community behind it. This makes it easier to retain application developers, get training, and get questions answered. This also means that security threats are quickly addressed to keep your data safe in the brave world of the internet.
As a good IT strategy, choosing and using the right framework can boost the productivity of you application development staff, and make your applications more consistent and more secure.
A good framework relies on well researched design patterns like Model-View-Controller (MVC) to make it easier to apply coding techniques like Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY). While this can appear to make applications more complex, in practice a modular application based on an MVC framework will help maintain consistency of the application. If there is only one piece of code that calculates item prices, then wherever those prices are needed, they will always be calculated the same way. This may seem totally intuitive, but you would be surprised the number of applications I have seen where the same task is coded separately in each place it is needed. In fact that is how the monolithic programming style worked. Each program contained all of its code, and it was, usually, easy to see where that program needed to be changed to fix the pricing rule. Unfortunately, it was much harder to find all the programs that the pricing rule needed to be changed in.
A good framework will contain an abstraction layer to shield you from the nuances of your specific database. When the time comes to change database engines you won't be stuck with a major rewrite. Yea, I know you have used the XXX database forever, and will never change. And in Cincinnati, pigs can fly! Acquisitions, mergers, changing business requirements, and other things can cause your simple IT Infrastructure to become complicated beyond your ability to effectively manage it. Consolidation frequently involves choosing a database and porting everything else over to it.
A good framework has a thriving developer community behind it. This makes it easier to retain application developers, get training, and get questions answered. This also means that security threats are quickly addressed to keep your data safe in the brave world of the internet.
As a good IT strategy, choosing and using the right framework can boost the productivity of you application development staff, and make your applications more consistent and more secure.
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