SPRING.net Framework and its popularity

Question

I was reading through the documentation on http://www.springframework.net/. I was extremely impressed with this framework despite the amount of xml configuration it requires. I was wondering why this framework is not in the "buzz" . Any shortcomings? They are even up to speed with CLR 4.

Answer 1

It's a great framework - as great as the documentation describes. I think that it doesn't get the "buzz it deserves"; perhaps because it lacks some popular features such as "fluent configuration" see for instance this answer.

Spring.net is well maintained, well documented, non-obtrusive and helps me build testable, maintainable and understandable software.

Answer 2

I've been using it for 3 years now in web development, and while i haven't used all of its features (the AOP stuff for example), i have found no shortcomings.

I really like the fact that you can do what you want without the framework shoving its way into your coding style

Answer 3

The main reason why I do not use Spring is the lack of "easy" documentation. I found it while browsing the web for libraries supporting a certain design pattern (guess which one!). You hit this overwhelming website full of information that is telling to how to do something but never explains why. More diagrams and hand-holding would be wonderful.