Articles by Joe Mitchko

Framework Tales

Tue, 21 Jun 2005 12:00:00 EDT

Once upon a time, on a project not too far away, a bright young software architect had a thought. 'Why, things are getting a bit complex here,' he said. 'Perhaps I can make things easier by developing a common framework that can take care of a lot of the drudgery involved in developing software.' So this architect got to work right away to develop the framework, perhaps gathering requirements here and there and dipping into the standard pile of available software patterns for appropriate design ideas.

Midnight Madness

Sun, 22 May 2005 10:45:00 EDT

As the father of an avid teenage video game enthusiast, I was a bit amused late last year by all of the excitement and anticipation surrounding the upcoming release of Halo 2. For months leading up to the November 9 release date, I heard all the buzz from my oldest son about how great it's going to be, how much better the graphics will be over the current game, and so on.

Simply SOA

Fri, 11 Feb 2005 00:00:00 EST

It's all quite simple you see. In a major move last year, BEA made a significant and very welcome contribution to the open source community by donating the Beehive framework to the Apache software foundation. Beehive, perceived by many in the industry as somewhat proprietary in nature, is the driving technology behind the BEA WebLogic Workshop IDE and was engineered with one thing in mind: to help make your life easier as a WebLogic and J2EE developer.

Are You a WebLogic Expert?

Tue, 16 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST

In my travels I am often asked whether I am a WebLogic expert. I don't blame people for asking, since it is assumed that anyone who is editor-in-chief of a magazine dedicated to keeping its readers up to date on the myriad of BEA products must know everything there is to know about this end of the software spectrum. You might assume that by now I would be used to the question, 'Are you a WebLogic expert, you know, a guru?'

The SOA Diet

Sun, 07 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST

It never ceases to amaze me how something can move from essential obscurity to mainstream hype in what seems to be only overnight. Take the low carbohydrate diets, which are all the rage now. For years, the Atkins diet was considered by most diet professionals to be pure nonsense - how can you lose weight with a diet rich in fat, with bacon and eggs in the morning and a pound of steak or two for dinner? Yet all it took was one investigative report from a prominent newspaper to give the diet credibility.

If Only...

Tue, 13 Jul 2004 00:00:00 EDT

Rarely does a software product meet the expectations of each and every user. First of all, if it did, I guess there wouldn't be any need for further releases. We all have a wish list of sorts - if only this software program could do this or if only that could be better. Most of the time, you just grin and bear it, keep such thoughts to yourself, and accept the way it works until the next release. If only I had just a little clout to have the vendor design the software exactly the way I want it...

Oh Beehive!

Thu, 20 May 2004 00:00:00 EDT

It wasn't all that long ago, the last issue of WLDJ if I am not mistaken, that I expressed my dismay over why so few projects in my travels were using WebLogic Workshop as the primary development IDE. And only a few readers sent in e-mails regarding their reasons for choosing another IDE over Workshop - some of which had a lot of merit (actually, all of them did). And, not being too far removed from the subject, I just happen to be on a WebLogic development project where I came in midpoint through development, and - you guessed it - Workshop was not being used.

Workshop on My Mind

Mon, 17 May 2004 00:00:00 EDT

Over the past several months, I've had the opportunity to interface with several BEA WebLogic project teams and ask how they do their development. One question I usually bring up, mainly out of curiosity, is whether or not they decided to use BEA WebLogic Workshop as part of their overall development strategy.

The Second Battle for the Desktop

Thu, 29 Apr 2004 00:00:00 EDT

We often like to assume that most corporate IT organizations have kept somewhat up-to-date with all of the various technological innovations over the years, and have done so in an incremental manner. However, the reality of the situation is quite different. You may (or may not) be surprised by how many IT organizations do not necessarily ride the 'bleeding edge' wave for one reason or another.

Watch Your Security Hole

Wed, 10 Mar 2004 00:00:00 EST

Anyone who has recently been on the job hunting circuit, looking for a position as a developer, knows that employers are getting rather picky. With the oversupply of IT professionals, recruiters are not just looking for good people, they are looking for good people with an exact skill set to match their requirements. As such, the chances of getting the position you desire is not as guaranteed as it was back in the boom times four years ago.

Twin Beaks

Thu, 26 Feb 2004 00:00:00 EST

While recently reading through a leading national newspaper, I happened to notice a slick, full-page advertisement for a new enterprise-class server. Made by a leading hardware manufacturer, it was one of those N-way Intel Xeon rack-mount systems that are in a whole league by themselves compared to the machines you and I have at home.

Predictions, Predictions...

Fri, 09 Jan 2004 00:00:00 EST

The start of a new year is traditionally a time when we reflect on where we've been for the past year, and what we hope for the coming year. Magazine editors take this opportunity to take part in an age-old ritual, making predictions for the new year. What will the industry achieve during the upcoming year? What struggles and opportunities will we reflect on this time next year?

Can You Log In Now? Good!

Mon, 01 Dec 2003 00:00:00 EST

A colleague of mine, who is a senior architectural specialist, recently finished a short, three-week consulting engagement with several other performance-test engineers to determine why it was taking several minutes on average for users to log in to a financial funds management system.

Trading Places

Fri, 03 Oct 2003 00:00:00 EDT

I have always been a firm believer in the value and importance of trade publications in the information technology industry. I remember back in my early days as a consultant being assigned to (more like thrown into) the maintenance end of an Informix-4GL project.

The 21st Century Developer

Wed, 10 Sep 2003 00:00:00 EDT

Imagine for a moment what it would be like to be a 21st-century software developer sitting in your cubicle at work. All right, I know that we are already a few years into the century, so let's push it up, say, 50 years.

Now I See the Problem

Mon, 21 Jul 2003 14:51:00 EDT

(July 21, 2003) - Just a few short years ago, I had my first experience with Web service technology while employed by a Silicon Valley dot-com company. At the time, the new technology seemed to me to be more like a solution looking for a problem. All right, you can use XML for remote procedural calls, but so what? I can specifically remember working on an advanced financial reconciliation engine, where the lead engineers on the team proposed that SOAP be used to interface the engine to the remaining J2EE based services. It seemed to me to be somewhat of an overkill, especially since the interface was fairly static in nature and not very complex. And besides, why would you want to mix SOAP, a Microsoft creation for gosh sakes, with a strictly J2EE-based platform? Mixing the two was considered anathema at the time.

Mindreef SOAPscope 1.0

Tue, 17 Jun 2003 00:00:00 EDT

While carefully sorting out junk mail in my inbox late one evening, I came across something that caught my attention. First of all, as product review editor, it is my duty and responsibility to give the subject line of any e-mail a quick once-over for Web service buzz words before I give it a heave-ho into the virtual trash bin.

BEA WebLogic Workshop 8.1

Tue, 27 May 2003 00:00:00 EDT

Last year, BEA introduced WebLogic Workshop, a revolutionary product based on declarative annotations that took away most of the pain and aggravation of developing J2EE-based Web services on the WebLogic Application Server platform. Not being satisfied with just Web services, BEA extended this technology, with WebLogic Workshop 8.1, to include Web applications, portals, and other J2EE integration- based applications.

BEA WebLogic Workshop 8.1

Fri, 23 May 2003 00:00:00 EDT

Last year, BEA introduced WebLogic Workshop, a revolutionary product based on declarative annotations that took away most of the pain and aggravation of developing J2EE-based Web services on the WebLogic Application Server platform. Not being satisfied with just Web services, BEA extended this technology with Workshop 8.1 to include Web applications, portals, and other J2EE integration-based applications.

Microsoft UDDI SDK 2.0

Tue, 22 Apr 2003 00:00:00 EDT

One of the least appreciated standards in the Web services world is Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration - UDDI. The concepts of the UDDI standard are fairly simple - link Web service consumers to providers. If you are a provider, you want to advertise who you are, the nature of your services, and technical information regarding the types of interfaces you provide. For a consumer, you want to be able to quickly look up services according to what type of business you are interested in, the type of service, and other factors.

Quadrasis/Xtradyne Soap Content Inspector

Mon, 24 Feb 2003 00:00:00 EST

They carefully planned for days for the worst possible attack. Once their presence was detected, the enemy's agents, who were stealthy and highly intelligent, would surely be drawn to their defensive walls. It would only be a matter of time before the ongoing and relentless probing would begin, eventually finding some unknown and unforeseen weakness in its design. Once compromised, the walls would surely be breached and the eventual plundering and destruction would spell doom for the innocent inhabitants within. Instinctively they knew not to underestimate the dark and ever-present forces residing in the ether…

Actional SOAPstation

Tue, 21 Jan 2003 00:00:00 EST

A favorite dot-com-era TV commercial of mine depicts several young entrepreneurs eagerly watching a ticker for their first e-commerce transaction. Their initial cheers and high-fives quickly faded into dead silence as the transactions started mounting into the millions. How could they fulfill all of those orders? Now, imagine corporate IS managers watching the growing number of specialized Web services spring up across the enterprise. How can they centrally manage all those services?

J2EE Release 1.4

Mon, 16 Dec 2002 00:00:00 EST

The Web service-based functionality provided in Sun Microsystems J2EE 1.4 is a culmination of the Java APIs and utilities that were previously part of the Java Web Services Developer Pack (WSDP) and have been repackaged for the most part into J2EE 1.4. For the sake of this review, I will cover only the new Web services-related features included in the new release. With that said, let's explore what J2EE 1.4 has to offer regarding developing and implementing Web services.

webMethods Version 4.6

Mon, 21 Oct 2002 00:00:00 EDT

Information technology sometimes reminds me of the magic industry. The first time a new and exciting act is performed, it creates a level of stir in the industry, leading to the eagerness of other magicians to perform it in their acts.

AltioLive 3.0 from Altio, Inc

Mon, 23 Sep 2002 00:00:00 EDT

Altio, Inc., is about to announce the preview edition of AltioLive 3.0, a presentation server platform for 'rich client' Web applications. In addition to its current architecture, this release provides a Web service adapter capable of providing real-time synchronization, as well as an improved IDE, to an intelligent front-end client.

Actional SOAPswitch

Tue, 27 Aug 2002 00:00:00 EDT

I must admit that the subtitle I used here sounds a bit like an overused marketing cliché broadcast from a late-night commercial on television. Anyone seriously involved in enabling enterprise resources as SOAP-based services on the Web knows that the 'today' part is quite a stretch.

BEA WebLogic Workshop

Mon, 01 Jul 2002 00:00:00 EDT

To fully appreciate the power behind Workshop, you need to know a bit about Java Web Services (JWS), an up-and-coming standard in the J2EE world. Just as you can embed Java code in a JSP file and have it compile on the application server, Java code in a JWS file is compiled automatically into a Web service.

BEA WebLogic Workshop

Wed, 19 Jun 2002 00:00:00 EDT

Once upon a time, back before the turn of the century, there was a buzzword in the industry called CASE - computer-aided software engineering. In a nutshell, CASE would take the various models and requirements gathered by software analysts and automatically generate production-ready application code. At the time, the concept had me scared to death.

Orbix E2A Web Services Platform, XMLBus Edition 5.0

Fri, 05 Apr 2002 00:00:00 EST

Back in the early 1980s, a popular fast-food restaurant ran a series of humorous commercials on television based on an elderly woman visiting a competing fast food chain. After receiving her order, she would pry open an oversized hamburger bun and utter a shrill complaint for all to hear: 'Where's the beef?'

WebLogic Server 6.1 by BEA SystemsLeading Application Server Gets Web Service Interface Lift

Mon, 03 Dec 2001 00:00:00 EST

A guiding principle in the software business is that everything designed and developed today will eventually become a legacy system to-morrow. Just yesterday I was all excited about the new world of client/server. For a time, it was client/server this and client/ server that, accompanied by a plethora of buzzwords to fill the minds and résumés of professionals. Almost overnight, however, Internet application architecture involving Web browsers, Java application servers, etc. took over the scene. Client/server is now a legacy technology. With this idea in mind I have come to wrestle with a new thought: distributed components, J2EE architecture, and others will eventually be considered legacy systems as well.

Integration Server 1.2

Sun, 21 Oct 2001 00:00:00 EDT

No one involved in Web development needs to be reminded of the continued rapid changes in the industry. Even with the current financial downturn, driven by the burst of the Internet bubble, innovation is still happening on many fronts. Nowhere is this truer than in the evolving area of Web services.

DeployDirector

Thu, 01 Mar 2001 00:00:00 EST

DeployDirector provides a comprehensive environment for maintaining Java applications across the enterprise. It consists of several modules, including a server-based repository, an administrative interface, and a client-side agent. The administrative tool allows you to configure and deploy new or updated versions of an application to thousands of client desktops across the enterprise.

SiteSticky

Thu, 01 Mar 2001 00:00:00 EST

In the increasingly fast-paced world of the Internet, myriad new Web sites seem to arrive daily, intent on gaining market share. Whether your site is involved in business-to-consumer sales, online services, or portal services, the name of the game is the same: try at all costs to retain users and give them the best customer service experience.

JRun 3.0 by Allaire Corporation

Fri, 01 Dec 2000 00:00:00 EST

One of the first things that crossed my mind after being asked to review JRun 3.0 was this: How could I objectively evaluate this product without being biased by my own experience working with a competing product? To give you a little background, all but one of the major Internet application projects I've worked on used this other product (which will remain nameless) as their Java application server. In addition, I've seen this product used so often in conjunction with Oracle Enterprise and Sun servers that the combination in my mind has become a semiofficial architectural standard. Despite its prominence in the Java application server space I had to come to the realization that other application servers on the market are just as capable and have unique and desirable features of their own. One such product is Allaire's JRun Application Server 3.0.

Product Review: InstallShield Java Edition 3.0

Mon, 01 May 2000 00:00:00 EDT

Having been involved in a fair number of development projects over the years, I've often wondered what goes on during the process of setting up and configuring installation programs using authoring tools such as InstallShield. The task of generating a setup program was always assigned to some unsuspecting junior programmer on the team. How they were able to get all the various components, registry settings and so on set up in the tool and compressed into a single file was always a well-guarded secret (I always thought it had something to do with job security). Anyway, driven by curiosity and answering the call of duty, I accepted the offer to evaluate the new 3.0 version of InstallShield Java Edition.