What the heck is SOA you might be asking? SOA stands for Service-Oriented Architecture and its beginning to radically shape the future of web applications. It's something I've been reading about and exploring for the past 3-4 months in an effort to try and understand where this is all going. I'd podcasted back in January on AJAX and what exactly makes up the AJAX framework of components.
That's why a recent article I read on Building Enterprise Application was of interest to me, because it clearly points to a new way that these apps will be built and more importantly, the changing nature of developers. The article is perfectly summed up when it says:
Want to know what the software developer of the future will look like? Find a bricklayer.
The developer of tomorrow will create service oriented components that can then be re-used across an organization. I like this approach a lot. It'll allow for rich, interactive web-based enterprise applications to be built thta will tie together back end systems and/or data.
If you've got an interest in finding out more about this do read the article over at eWeek titled Building Enterprise Apps: It Takes a SOA. Would love to hear from folks that have begun to create SOA-based applications within their own company.
Great article. I like the premise of bricklayer as you refer to it. Also the approach as discussed about working within existing applications and then leveraging the services elsewhere is a great alternative to finding and architecting that perfect system when you are just learning the technology, value and applicability.
Posted by: Stephen | February 13, 2006 at 10:24 PM