My Journey Exploring the Oqtane Framework

My Journey Exploring the Oqtane Framework

Mental notes on architecture, learning by reading source, and what’s next.

OK — so it’s time for a new article. Lately, I’ve been diving deep into the Oqtane framework, and it’s been a beautiful journey. It reminds me of my early days with XAF from Developer Express—when I learned to think in software architecture and modern design patterns by simply reading the code.Back then, documentation was scarce. The advice was: “Look at the code.” I did—and that shaped a big part of my software education. It taught me that good source code is often self-explanatory.

Even though XAF is still our main tool at the office (Xari & BIT Frameworks), we’re expanding. We’re researching new divisions for Flutter and React, since some projects already use those fronts with an XAF backend. I also wanted to explore building client-server apps with a single .NET codebase that includes mobile—another reason Oqtane caught my eye.

Why Oqtane Caught My Attention

The Oqtane team is very responsive on GitHub. You can open a discussion and get thoughtful replies quickly. The source code is clean and educational—perfect for learning by reading. There are plenty of talks and videos on architecture and module development; some are a bit dated, but if you cross-check with the code, you’ll be fine.

I’ve learned there are two steps to mastering a framework: (1) immerse yourself in material (videos, code, docs), and (2) explain it to someone else. These notes do both—part research, part knowledge sharing.

Oqtane Video References

A Missing Clip Worth Finding

There’s one clip I couldn’t locate where Shaun Walker explains that .NET already provides the pieces for modern, multi-platform, server-and-client applications—but the ecosystem is fragmented. Oqtane unifies those pieces into a single .NET codebase. If I find it, I’ll make a highlight and share it.

On Learning and Time

I’m trying to publish as much as I can now because I’m about to start a new chapter: I’ll be joining the University of St. Petersburg to learn Russian as my second language. It’s a tough language—very different from Spanish or Italian—so I’ll likely have less time to write for a while. Better to document these experiments now than let them sit in my notes for months.

That’s it for today. I hope these clips and notes help you understand Oqtane the way they helped me. Stay tuned—and happy coding!

 

SyncFramework for XPO: Updated for .NET 8 & 9  and DevExpress 24.2.3!

SyncFramework for XPO: Updated for .NET 8 & 9 and DevExpress 24.2.3!

SyncFramework for XPO is a specialized implementation of our delta encoding synchronization library, designed specifically for DevExpress XPO users. It enables efficient data synchronization by tracking and transmitting only the changes between data versions, optimizing both bandwidth usage and processing time.

What’s New

  • Base target framework updated to .NET 8.0
  • Added compatibility with .NET 9.0
  • Updated DevExpress XPO dependencies to 24.2.3
  • Continued support for delta encoding synchronization
  • Various performance improvements and bug fixes

Framework Compatibility

  • Primary Target: .NET 8.0
  • Additional Support: .NET 9.0

Our XPO implementation continues to serve the DevExpress community.

Key Features

  • Seamless integration with DevExpress XPO
  • Efficient delta-based synchronization
  • Support for multiple database providers
  • Cross-platform compatibility
  • Easy integration with existing XPO and XAF applications

As always, if you own a license, you can compile the source code yourself from our GitHub repository. The framework maintains its commitment to providing reliable data synchronization for XPO applications.

Happy Delta Encoding! ?