WinForms architecture patterns

A simple WinForms app (a very basic password manager) built using different architectural patterns:

• Plain: everything is in the views' code behind files.

  • Pros: easiest approach.
  • Cons: no separation of concerns. Difficult to maintain as the apps grows. Untestable.

• Layered: data access code is in a separate layer.

  • Pros: separates the main concerns. Not too complicated. Some parts of the app are testable.
  • Cons: the view code is still big and hard to test.

• MVP with Passive View: follows the Model-View-Presenter pattern, Passive View-style.

  • Pros: concerns are clearly separated. Most of the app is testable, including UI logic code (in presenters).
  • Cons: complicates the architecture. Presenter<->View data sync is tedious. A bit overkill for some projects.

Disclaimer:

• Software architecture is all tradeoffs and compromises. I made some choices to keep things accessible. There are tons of other ways to build WinForms apps and apply these patterns (see resources for some alternatives).
• Complex architectures offer most benefits in big projects, unlike this one.
• I am no C# guru. Feel free to notify me of any mistake or suboptimal code.

Some useful resources:

• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2056/what-are-mvp-and-mvc-and-what-is-the-difference
• http://aspiringcraftsman.com/2007/08/25/interactive-application-architecture/
• http://codebetter.com/jeremymiller/2007/07/26/the-build-your-own-cab-series-table-of-contents/
• http://aviadezra.blogspot.fr/2008/10/model-view-presenter-design-pattern.html
• https://github.com/mrts/winforms-mvp
• https://github.com/relentless/winforms-mvp-example