The Next Big Thing or Integration-The Interaction Server
Part 2: Possible Solutions
Greg Rollins - May 22, 2002

Web Services: (Some) Order From Chaos

Thanks to software's Holy Trinity (Microsoft, IBM, and Sun), the mythical healing powers of Web Services may now rival those of the True Grail; Web Services reality is almost as elusive, but far less mesmerizing. First (and foremost), standard, consistent interfaces are good; they promote harmony, a sense of well-being, and general mental health amongst the programmer ranks. Second, contract-based programming is and always will be the best way to make systems that were never intended to work together do so. Third, a lot of smart people have invested a lot of time and effort in making things like TCP/IP, HTTP, and XML work very well (okay ... scalable, reliable, extensible).<br> <br> <font color="#336699">This is <b>Part 2</b> of a 2-part article on how Software Technology is evolving toward Multi-Channel Interaction Servers.<br> <br> <a href="http://www.technologyevaluation.com/Research/ResearchHighlights/ExecutiveView/2002/05/research_notes/TU_EV_XGR_05_21_02_1.asp" target="_blank"><b>Part 1</b></a> discussed the changes in Software Technology that are leading to this.</font>..