Data Access

N-tier data access is hard. Constructing a remote domain model for your data is hard. DevForce simplifies n-tier persistence and provides a rich domain model on which to build your application. Stop writing plumbing and infrastructure code and focus on your business logic and user experience.

Single Domain Model

You should not have to duplicate your business logic in multiple places. The mobile business objects in DevForce enable you to use a single domain model whether you are writing client-side or server-side. The same domain model works with all of our DevForce products, so you can have multiple faces for your application in different technologies such as WPF, WinForms, ASP.NET, or Silverlight.

Rich Domain Model

DevForce provides you with rich business objects with real behavior. Use a domain model that represents your problem, not just flat data transfer objects, where you have to do all the bookkeeping and re-implement your logic.

Verification Engine

Verify the correctness of your business objects and provide helpful error messages to the user. Supports cross-field, cross-object, and dynamic validation, and seamlessly integrates with Silverlight validation. This keeps your business logic in your business objects and out of the UI.

Entity Framework Integration

Standardize on Microsoft’s next generation ORM framework. DevForce is built upon the Entity Framework, enables it to work in n-tier, makes it easier to use, and adds all the features you see here plus more.

Security

DevForce is integrated with the ASP.NET Membership, Roles, and Profiles services so you can reuse your existing security infrastructure. If you require a custom authentication strategy, DevForce provides an interface so you can implement your own custom logic. Also, no connection string is exposed on the client and server-side security checks prevent unauthorized access even if the client is compromised.

Caching & Performance

DevForce applications are snappy because the domain model executes inside the Silverlight client. Client-side caching greatly reduces the number of trips to the server and simplifies asynchronous programming. Data compression further reduces network latency and improves performance.

Full n-tier LINQ Support

Get the full power of LINQ in an n-tier application. LINQ-to-Entities only operates 2-tier, and other LINQ implementations only support a narrow range of queries. DevForce supports them all including subqueries, projections, and aggregation.

MVVM and Best Practices

DevForce is built around good architectural practices such as MVC and MVVM and enables you to conveniently keep your UI and business logic where they belong without sacrificing usability or functionality.

Offline Execution

Use your application while disconnected or partially connected to the internet. Save your work in isolated storage and resume working later.

Multiple Data Sources

Use multiple back-end databases in a single domain model. Navigate cross-database relations using object properties. Save all your changes safely in a distributed transaction.

Scalability

Client-side caching, connection pooling, and a stateless and multi-core enabled server provide DevForce applications with excellent scalability and fault-tolerant characteristics.

Lifecycle Events

In addition to writing static business logic, you can dynamically modify behavior at runtime by injecting your logic before or after a get or set, and by hooking into the object lifecycle events (fetching, fetched, saving, saved).