Reaping the Rewards
So in the past I've talked about the Infragistics Samples Browser, and modifications I've made on it. Last release I spent a great deal of time re-vamping the samples browser in an effort to make it more maintainable. Well, it's samples time again here at Infragistics. Time to get ready for the next release, and time to test just how well my tips for scalability and maintainability worked.
So here's what I did. First, I branched the code from the 7.2 stream. Then I opened up the project with VS2005, and did a search and replace in 2 of my config files (which were actually config sections that I separated out into their own files). At that point, I re-built (optional) and browsed to the main page for the application.. everything was upgraded.. just like that. It was a strange feeling. I knew that if everything was right, it would be that easy - but I guess after working with this project in the past I had given up on the expectation that everything would go right. :)
Okay, so there was one bump in the road, but it was pretty small. There is a new component contained in a new assembly for the 7.3 release. When I added the new sample page to the application I got a build error at first because I forgot to add the assembly as a reference in the config file. After I did that.. everything was a-ok. The moral remains the same - planning ahead and building your application for scalability may take a little more time up front, but saves you loads in the end.