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I'm not familiar with this specific workshop. However, ObjectWatch has
historically been an unequivocal partisan on the side of Microsoft in the MS
vs. Java wars, as has Roger Sessions. I've looked over the slides at
ObjectWatch's site and it appears to be more of the same, combined with a
rather feeble attempt at an enterprise architecture.
One of the challenges that software engineers have always faced is finding
sound guidance from those who don't have hidden agendas. That's proved
impossible, so the practical route is to listen to the partisans, but take
everything with a grain of salt and listen to the opposing views, as well.
Then make your own judgment. Realistically, though, J2EE and .NET will
coexist in most real world enterprises, so finding the right way to bridge
them in the enterprise is important.
This workshop seems to try to address the latter. But the formulation of
"Software Fortresses" sounds bizarre to me. That sounds like a warped way of
presenting things. What seems to be all too often lacking is a sound and
reasonable understanding of the relevance of issues of scale when
considering the necessary architecture of a system. Integration woes are
often the result of approaching systems as "islands" or "silos" and not
adequately addressing what happens at the boundaries of the system. In order
to understand the latter, you need to step up a level in scale and look at
your system in context -- from the viewpoint in which your system is a
component. That means modeling the enterprise (and beyond, when you want to
scale across partner enterprises). Enlightened architects understood years
ago that OO-centric architectures are not sufficient for that. You need
more, and it's not all about technology. The Zachman Framework [1] provides
one framework for enterprise architectures. Apple at one point adapted an
enterprise technical architecture (which is a subset of enterprise
architecture) from DEC and christened it as VITAL (no links for this that I
know of -- it's been all but forgotten). This was a quite enlightened
technical architecture that presaged many of the "innovations" we hear from
people today. VITAL put an emphasis on ER modelling and data warehousing as
a foundation for a shared information model that spans the enterprise.
Message brokers are another sound approach that some technical architectures
have emphasised. Web Services -- properly used -- can be useful here, too.
But not if you don't understand the enterprise. I'm not sure why we need
some new perspective here that talks of "software fortresses". I'm doubtful
that they are really presenting any new insights. We just keep rehashing the
same old lessons, and people still don't listen.
For those who have any interest in learning those old lessons, rather than
struggling to rehash them, I'd recommend "CORBA Design Patterns" [2], for
one -- not for the simple CORBA-centric design patterns in it, but for the
excellent discussion of issues of architecture and scale early in the book.
This discussion can cast a very useful light on some of the discussions
going on today, especially with regard to the feeble caricatures of OO that
get thrown about by some to support the notion that OO is a failure. The
point he makes in passing regarding the challenge of getting "types" to
reach beyond the boundaries of the enterprise provides a wonderful
complementary perspective on the debate over REST today.
I am also fond of the book "Building Enterprise Information Architecture" by
Melissa Cook [3]. It's an excellent intro to *real* enterprise architecture
for anyone interested.
[1] http://www.zifa.com
[2]
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471158828/qid=1015448016/sr=1-3/ref=
sr_1_3/002-2084195-7780855
[3]
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0134402561/qid=1015447970/sr=8-1/ref=
sr_8_67_1/002-2084195-7780855
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bullard, Claude L (Len) [mailto:clbullar@ingr.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, March 06, 2002 6:49 AM
> To: xml-dev@lists.xml.org
> Subject: [xml-dev] RE: A Two Day Workshop for Software Architects
>
>
> Gotta love it. Architectures for survivalists.
> No REST for the weary.
>
> "self contained, mutually suspicious,
> marginally cooperating software fortresses
> (perfect for J2EE and .NET!)"
>
> And now you know. :-)
>
> len
>
> ***************************
>
> From: janet@objectwatch.com [mailto:janet@objectwatch.com]
> Sent: Tuesday, March 05, 2002 5:16 PM
> To: ObjectWatch_Subscribers@smtp1.insync.net
> Subject: A Two Day Workshop for Software Architects
>
> Software Fortresses, J2EE, and .NET
> A Two Day Workshop for Software Architects
>
> Don't try to choose between J2EE and .NET, use them both!
> Just use a unifying architecture that recognizes the strengths
> and weaknesses of each platform. This class introduces a
> new model for enterprise systems called the Software Fortress
> Model. The Software Fortress Model treats enterprise
> systems as a series of self contained, mutually suspicious,
> marginally cooperating software fortresses
> (perfect for J2EE and .NET!).
>
> Each fortress makes its own choices as to software
> platform and data storage mechanisms and interacts
> with other fortresses through carefully crafted treaties.
> This helps enterprises focus on the critical issues of
> security and platform interoperability.
>
> In this workshop you will learn the basic principals of
> Software Fortresses: what they are, how to build them,
> how they form the basis of an enterprise architecture,
> how to make them secure, how to use both J2EE and .NET
> technologies effectively within the Software Fortress
> Architecture, and how J2EE and .NET compare in their
> ability to support the Software Fortress Model.
>
> This workshop will change forever how you think
> about building enterprise systems!
>
> This workshop will be taught by Roger Sessions,
> one of the world's leading experts in highly scalable
> Web oriented architectures, and the originator of the
> Software Fortress Model. This workshop is perfect for
> Senior Developers, Project Managers, and Application
> Architects. Whether you are trying to decide between
> J2EE and .NET, trying to understand how to get them
> to work together, or just trying to build a large enterprise
> system, this thought provoking two day workshop is a
> not to be missed event!
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------
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