We've all been there ... thought we were going to get some code out of the door but then for one reason or another we couldn't manage it. I hope ScottGu et al who worked so hard to try and get it out this weekend don't take this the wrong way but here is a modified version of the lyrics to a song from the musical 'Les Miserables' for all of us who are sooo keen to get our hands on the new framework and waited all weekend for it ...

MVC framework (to 'Les Miserables - Empty Chairs At Empty Tables' music)

[A developer who got his hands on the MVC framework and blogged about it]

There's a grief that can't be spoken
There's a pain goes on and on
Empty pages, empty tables
Now my sites are dead and gone

Here they talked of view-controllers
Here it was they lit the flame
Here they sang about the framework
And the framework never came.

From a blog page in Seattle
They could see a world reborn
And they rose with voices ringing
I can hear them now!
The very code that they had posted
Became their last communion
On the lowly CTP...
At dawn.

Oh my friends, my friends forgive me.

[The ghosts of those who died waiting for the MVC framework appear.]

That I have code and you have none
There's a grief that can't be spoken
There's a pain goes on and on

Phantom frameworks run on windows
Mock assemblies on the floor
Databases with no tables
Where my view will run no more.

[The ghosts fade away.]

Oh my friends, my friends, don't ask me
What your sacrifice was for
Empty projects with no tables
Where my code will run no more...

Ah well, at least I have something to look forward to next week!!

The ASP.NET 3.5 Extensions Preview (which includes microsoft's new MVC framework) should be release today on ASP.NET. It was due to ship earlier in the week but due to a bug got delayed. However, the team behind it have been working over the weekend to get it out. I can't wait to get my hands on it.

I've used ASP.NET for development even though I know about the other approaches (Ruby on Rails, Castle etc...) simply because I make a living out of coding and most clients want the big corporate supplied platform. Going into a company and trying to sell Ruby on Rails can be quite difficult and there simply aren't the opportunities / jobs about to justify switching to it (although I can understand people using it on private projects and startups).

Some question whether Microsoft should be producing a copy or clone of what existing open source projects already do. Well, I'm glad they are doing it!

Love em or hate em, Microsoft make some great development tools and platforms / frameworks and using these is how I make a living. 

What I think the ASP.NET MVC framework will do is validate the approach (if it needed it) and also allow it to be used in corporate / enterprise environments - i.e. it will become mainstream and less time will have to be spent selling it to people who really don't know the difference between a MVC and an MCP but don't want to risk their position by allowing some developer or consultant to lead them down the road to a minority used platform.

ScottGu has made some posts about what the MVC framework is and getting started with it which are a great read:

ASP.NET MVC Framework
ASP.NET MVC Framework (Part 1)
ASP.NET MVC Framework (Part 2): URL Routing
ASP.NET MVC Framework (Part 3): Passing ViewData from Controllers to Views
ASP.NET MVC Framework (Part 4): Handling Form Edit and Post Scenarios

Also, some other blog posts provide more detailed information about various aspects:

TDD and Dependency Injection with ASP.NET MVC
ASP.NET MVC Preview: Using The MVC UI Helpers

I can't wait to use this and already have some apps planned to use it ...