Subtitle: Or how to start an argument without really trying.
I got into an interesting conversation recently with some experienced programmers who were currently using C# to develop applications at three different companies. Each had a different background: the oldest first learned Fortran before using more than a dozen different languages at a variety of companies, the second learned C first and did device driver work before moving to C++, the third first learned Turbo Pascal then branched out to C/C++ as well as Java.
Each was opinionated. They all liked C#, but for different reasons. They would have preferred another language, but followed their employers. The one common thread was that they had to use it for their current project. Each was present when their project started.
At one point in the discussion, I asked about how their projects were structured. I was thinking along the lines of on-disk structure, namespaces, inheritance hierarchies, sub-projects, libraries, source code control, etc. Little did I know that I was playing with explosives. At that point the discussion got very vibrant.
I learned quite a bit. Microsoft can put out all the guidance they want. Companies can also, but if there are no enforcers, then it is all an exercise in feeling good. What is actually being written and followed is what matters. Here, these three were in agreement. All thought their projects lacked some aspect of structure. Each description is too long to post here, but over the next few posts I will summarize how the discussion went. Next up: Namespaces.