Question

What exactly is dynamic data? I saw the term in the ASP.NET Overview on msdn. Is it something that we use all the time thats not really mentioned when working with data?

I’ve built a few web applications already and never came across this term. Is it something that should be used or maybe considered?

UPDATE: I guess I’m not really sure what it’s for. I’ve never had a problem doing LINQ to SQL or Entity Framework before. What makes using Dynamic Data worth it? Is it simply a pattern?

Answer 1

Dynamic Data was a new project type in VS 2008. It used scaffolding & templates to help code faster.

Two big reasons I saw for its usage:

• Stand up an admin back-end really
  quickly where doing much on the way
  of modifying the front-end may not be
  needed.
• Quickly stand up CRUD apps that are
  simple.

Now, it can be modified very heavily. Check out these links for some work others have done on this.

http://aspnet.codeplex.com/Wiki/View.aspx?title=Dynamic%20Data

Matt Berseth – http://mattberseth.com/blog/dynamic_data/

Stephen Naughton – http://csharpbits.notaclue.net/

http://weblogs.asp.net/craigshoemaker/archive/tags/Dynamic+Data/default.aspx

http://blogs.msdn.com/rickandy/archive/2009/01/08/dynamic-data-faq.aspx

Fast Forward to Today:

As MVC has matured they have introduced many of the ideas that were in Dynamic Data. Scaffolding, templates, etc… to help one quickly get up and running BUT also have the ability to modify more easily and is designed for many other desirable features.

Where does Dynamic Data fit today, especially with Light Switch thrown into the mix? Great question and my only answer at this point is it still fits for the two items originally mentioned but with the advent of MVC having these abilities WITH added capabilities and Light Switch it’s going to see minimal usage.