XPO has been designed for small and large development teams alike. It will help you shorten development time and more reliably manage and deliver any software project. To obtain a trial version, visit the XPO Downloads page. Below is a brief and probably incomplete list of features available in eXpress Persistent Objects for .NET.
The main benefit of XPO is that it will, by default, handle all aspects of database creation and object persistence, allowing the developer to concentrate on the business logic of the required solution.
Key features you’ll find in the eXpressPersistent Objects:
- Transparent and Controllable Object-Relational Mapping System
By using .NET Reflection and attributes introduced by XPO, XPO is able to map the properties of business objects to relational database tables. Object associations (one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-many), aggregation and inheritance are all FULLY supported. - Persistent Class Generation
XPO can generate persistent classes that replicate the specified database's structure. This allows easy transition from traditional relational databases to eXpress Persistent Objects. - Bindable and Pageable Object Collections
With XPO.NET, you can retrieve collections of persistent objects, paginate and bind them to UI controls with ease.
A little over a year ago, after several years of programing in the UNIX/Linux world, I had the opportunity to program using .NET.
I'd played around with Mono, but was new to Visual Studio and Microsoft's .NET implementation.
I started programming an application using the libraries that shipped standard with .NET, which I soon found to be lacking in functionality and aesthetics.
ADO was cumbersome; though certainly usable. The "eye-candy" simply was not there--the buttons did not even look like XP.
The interface looked eerily similar to TCL/TK's Motif look, (Well, not really, but it looked just as bad) which was without question not good enough.
I new there must be some libraries out there that would provide the
needed functionality and aesthetics that I wanted. I took a
step-by-step approach to searching for UI controls and business object
classes, with which I was having issues. I first looked for solutions
to problems with buttons, list boxes, tabs, etc... So I took them
one-by-one and searched for better implementations. I found pieces and
parts from many vendors that stood well on their own, but most were not
complete and that made integration and overall consistency a daunting
task. It was when I was searching for an ADO helper/replacement that I
came across DevExpress's eXpress Persistent Objects.
I downloaded the trial version and was able to replicate weeks worth of
work in a matter of hours. I then downloaded the entire DXperience Enterprise
bundle. Well, let's just say I've never went searching for any other
component since then. Their libraries are first class. They are
consistent and complete. Their developers are first class, just take a
look at their source code. (You have to purchase it, but you probably
should anyway.) Their support staff is first class. Any question that
I have asked has been responded to in less than 24 hours. (Some
responses were made at 2:30 a.m.) Their user forums are active and have
a wide array of community support. If you are considering using
DevExpress's tools, do so. You won't regret it for a second.