Introduction

Pragmatic Design is a .NET meta-framework powered by Source Generators. It turns your architecture declarations into fully wired, production-ready code — all at compile time, with zero reflection and zero runtime overhead.

The Problem

Building .NET applications today means writing the same boilerplate over and over: repository implementations, endpoint registrations, validation wiring, DI setup, entity configurations. This repetitive code is error-prone, hard to maintain, and slows you down.

The Solution

With Pragmatic Design, you declare your intent using attributes and base classes. A unified Source Generator detects your architecture and forges the rest:

[DomainAction]
public partial class PlaceOrder : IDomainAction<OrderResult>
{
    public required string CustomerId { get; init; }
    public required List<OrderItem> Items { get; init; }
}

// The Source Generator produces:
// ✓ Invoker with full DI pipeline
// ✓ Validation, authorization, logging
// ✓ HTTP endpoint registration
// ✓ Zero reflection — all compile-time

Key Principles

• Zero Reflection — Everything is resolved at compile time. No typeof(T).GetProperties(), no hidden allocations.
• Modular by Design — 20+ composable modules. Add a NuGet, the generator sees it, code is forged. Remove it, code disappears.
• Pragmatic, Not Dogmatic — Sensible defaults that work. Override anything. It’s your code, forged your way.
• AOT Ready — Zero reflection means native AOT compilation works out of the box.

Architecture

Pragmatic Design is organized in three layers:

Layer	Modules	Purpose
Foundation	Result, Ensure, DI, Abstractions	Core building blocks
Capabilities	Validation, Mapping, Caching, Specification, i18n	Feature modules
Integration	Actions, Endpoints, Persistence, Composition	Full-stack wiring

Each module is independently useful — but they compose beautifully together.

Next Steps

• Installation — Get up and running in minutes
• Architecture — Understand the module system
• Endpoints — Build your first endpoint