This morning I've been adding some new features to an old app that was started in .NET 1.0 then migrated to .NET 2.0 a few years ago. I use VS2008 to work with the app but it continues to target .NET 2.0.

My client wants to track a few more bits of information which means adding new properties to the relevant class, new fields to the relevant strongly typed dataset and new fields to the database table. It also means writing code to push the returned db data into the strongly typed dataset, then from the dataset into the class. I also have to be sure the properties get updated and then push those properties into the strongly typed dataset upon saving. And then I have to go add parameters to the update stored proc in the database and modify the update operation in my web service to populate the new stored proc params/fields.

I can't believe how horrid and drudgerous (I think I just invented that word - aka "filled with drudgery" :-)) all of this work is, especially now that I've been using EF for all of my data access in new apps.

I even whined about it on twitter (http://twitter.com/julielermanvt/status/2778013340) and quickly received a bunch of replies from other developers who are feeling this same pain.

Chris Love: Me too, and so far without my Code Generator, it is like coding in molasses.

Avonelle Lovhaug: I feel your pain. I've been working on an old non-LLBLGen project. I hate the data access on that app. Yuck!

Alex Karl: i feel ya! i sorta get the same feeling when i have to work on event-driven non-OOP .NET code. arghhh

This is a pretty good validation of the benefits of using an ORM, whichever one you choose.