Can I get some advice if I start using asp.net mvc 4 instead of asp.net MVC 3

Question

I have already created some web applications using asp.net MVC 3, and they work well, and I am currently in a position to launch a new web application for the medical clinic; but do I need some advice if I should consider using asp.net MVC 4 beta instead of asp.net MVC 3? Thanks in advance for any help and suggestions? BR

Answer 1

Personally, I would start in MVC3, and then upgrade the project to v4 when it is RTMd. Previous versions had some problems with the transition from the beta version (see below).

However, you can be sure that, as with the previous version, a quick and easy update path will be available (usually there appears a project conversion tool released at the same time).

I have a project that I'm working on right now, and if I get to the web tier before v4 is completed, I will start with v3 first.

I believe this depends on whether any of the new features, such as responsive rendering via Mobile views (or, indeed, the Web API), are an integral part of your solution. Just don’t go on the beta platform :)

July 2012 update

I ended up on the web layer of my current project before RTF RT4, so I decided to switch to the RC release first; then nuget night packages to support the web API.

Apart from the editing problems (which are documented), I did not find any problems even with the integration of the extensibility library for whitelabelling that I wrote, for MVC 1-3, which works at a very low level.

Would I move earlier if I didn't need the many benefits provided by the web API? Probably no.

But this is so, I'm glad I did :-)

Answer 2

Unless you have a specific reason to use MVC 4 (perhaps a feature that is not included in MVC 3), I would deviate from using beta software for the client / client. Who knows what errors / problems you will have to solve when developing an application or when upgrading from a beta version to a general version.

There is a reason in beta.

Answer 3

As Maki says. If you do not need a specific function in MVC4, I will stay with MVC3. MVC4 is basically just new features and very few changes to how MVC works.

I disagree with Mackie in his comment about “there is a reason for the beta,” MVC4 is very stable and has a go-live license that allows you to use it in production code. It’s just that everything can change before the final, which is more tied to VS11 than to stability.

Answer 4

For my dissertation, I want to develop an application in ASP.NET MVC, so a few weeks ago I had to make the same decision as you. This is my conclusion:

I should advise using MVC3 (because it is stable) for your business projects. There are some known issues ( http://www.asp.net/whitepapers/mvc4-release-notes#_Toc303253815 ) in the beta version of MVC4, so it would be a waste of time to get stuck one day due to beta issues .

When there is time, you can easily convert MVC3 to MVC4. So feel free to opt for MVC3 for now. You can decide later whether you want to upgrade or not. From the link below you will see how easy it is to switch from MVC3 to MVC4 at the moment: http://www.asp.net/whitepapers/mvc4-release-notes#_Toc303253806