Around 1800, Eli
Whitney proposed manufacturing rifles with interchangeable parts,
instead of crafting each rifle individually. Widely regarded at the beginning of mass production, the concept
of interchangeable parts led to a dramatic increase in rifle production
capacity while delivering the additional benefits of consistent
operation and easy field maintenance of weapons.
Component-based
systems
represent a paradigm shift in software development similar to that of
using interchangeable parts in manufacturing. A component-based system is built of standard,
reusable parts that become the fundamental building blocks of future
software. Component-based systems promise numerous benefits,
including flexibility, scalability, and maintainability.
The promise of
component-based systems has been difficult to realize. The reality
is that even through the last decade, monolithic systems have dominated
corporate IT. And after a few years, monolithic system
become legacy systems, because they are not flexible, changeable, or
easy to connect to other systems. A company will get acquired or
acquire other companies or spin off divisions, and all of a sudden, the
monolithic systems get in the way of progress.
During the 1990's
more software by far was developed for the Internet that was developed for
all the corporations in the world. But Internet software was typically
developed vary rapidly, with expediency taking over where architecture once
reigned. And guess what - Internet software is largely
component-based. It may seem like heresy to 'true' software
developers, but an Internet startup could get a shopping cart and a search
module and a merchant account and a product display package from other
Internet startups. There is Mapping software and travel planning
software and collaborative filtering software, and when you look at it
closely, these are true components. Web sites can be rapidly
manufactured with 85% components, 15% glue.
Now it's time to
bring components to the corporate world, and they are headed our way under
the name of Web Services. Here's a quote from the January 3, 2002 CBDi
forum newsletter:
Web services provide formalized separation of concerns at a usable
level of abstraction and you can implement web services right now with
most of the current versions of platforms and software tools. Web services
are fundamentally a low-cost technology investment that easily extend what
you already have to provide real business value. First look for internal
applications, there are many opportunities to simplify internal
integration. Second look externally at public (non secure) or private B2B
applications, and make sure those security and privacy budgets address the
needs of Web services. Look at the Web services that IBM and Microsoft’s
customers are already delivering.
