Articles

ALM and Business Processes

Architectural Decisions as Reusable Design Assets

Service-Oriented Architecture Decision Modeling (SOAD) framework helps to capture the recurring architectural decisions and use them to guide design in related projects. In this IEEE article, author Olaf Zimmermann discusses this decision-centric approach to guiding the design work. He also talks about the two model types in SOAD metamodel, the guidance models and the decision models.

Meet the Goliath of Ruby Application Servers

PostRank Labs released an open source version of their Ruby web server framework powering PostRank. Goliath, is an asynchronous server designed for speed, leveraging key features of Ruby 1.9+. Goliath creates fast web and data services not unlike node.js but sticking with what Ruby developers know..Ruby. Discover how easy it can be to create manageable server-side services with Ruby.

Pieter van Zyl on Benchmarking ORM Tools and Object Databases

OO7J is a Java version of the original OO7 benchmark (written in C++). This project includes benchmarking Object Relational Mapping (ORM) tools. Currently there are implementations for Hibernate on PostgreSQL, MySQL, db4o and Versant databases. InfoQ and Roberto V. Zicari from ODBMS.ORG recently interviewed Pieter van Zyl, creator of the OO7J benchmark.

Making Microsoft Sync Framework work with PostgreSql

Microsoft Sync Framework is used for occasionally connected clients, for peer-peer applications, and other applications where data needs to be synchronized between multiple data stores. While it doesn’t include providers for non-Microsoft databases, the framework makes it easy to add that support. Roopesh Shenoy demonstrates using PostgreSql.

Large-Scale Agile Design & Architecture: Ways of Working

During my 2011 QCon London keynote on "Scaling Lean & Agile: Large, Multisite or Offshore Delivery", I mentioned — as an aside — that, "Architecture is a bad metaphor. We don't construct our software like a building, we grow it like a garden." This prompted many a tweet, and some people were interested in clarification or elaboration.

The Art of Creating Whole Teams: how agile has changed the way we work with our customers

Angela Martin earned her PhD examining how agile methods work in practice and what is different about this way of working. She shares some of the key practices which organisations can implement to increase their likelihood of successful cultural change through creating Whole Teams - truly cross functional collaborative teams working well together to deliver products which meet customer's needs

Application Security With Apache Shiro

Apache Shiro is a Java security framework that provides simple but powerful approach to application security. This article introduces the framework and explains Apache Shiro’s project goals, architectural philosophies and how you might use Shiro to secure your own applications.

mobl: a DSL for Mobile Web Development

Zef Hemel explains mobl, a cross-platform DSL for building mobile applications, detailing language’s constructs, how to create an application, and why it is better than other similar solutions.

The Top Five Challenges of Building Software Platforms in the Agile World

When scaling Agile to the enterprise new concerns arise that require revisiting the values and practices of Agile software development. One such concern relates to a common strategy to achieve reuse at the enterprise level - building software platforms. This article lists the top five challenges that an Agile organization should expect to face when deciding to adopt a software platform strategy.

Book on Leveraging Domain-Specific Languages by Martin Fowler with Rebecca Parsons

In their new book Martin Fowler and Rebecca J. Parsons address the topic of Domain-Specific Languages. “Domain-Specific Languages” does not only address the concepts behind DSLs, but also tries to explain the subject in a pragmatic manner using examples in Java, C# and other languages.The book contains different patterns that reveal best practices in designing DSLs.

The Accidental Agilist: A Personal Look Back at 10 Years of the Agile Manifesto

Johanna Rothman reflects on her journey to pragmatic agility. She discusses the way in which agile practices work together to improve project outcomes, and how this is not restricted to software development. She challenges teams to embrace the transparency that agile brings and stop talking about becoming agile and start doing it properly.