Ajit Sagar

The entire premise behind the Web services paradigm is enabling access to loosely coupled services via the Web. In essence, Web services are based on a synchronous request-response type interaction. On the other hand, a client's interaction with a Web service can be synchronous or asynchronous. When application functionality is exposed in the form of Web services, one of the dangers in designing the architecture of the service layer is that the designers tend to think from the perspective of service consumption only. In other words, the focus is on "who is going to call me" and not on "whom am I going to call?" Granted that the design of services needs to target the consumer, but when dealing with the asynchronous paradigm, remember that there is also the "callback" to be accounted for. Since Web services are primarily used for integrating heterogeneous platforms, it... (more)

Reflection & Introspection: Objects Exposed

One of the salient aspects of the Java language is the control it gives to developers for dynamically generating and reusing code. This allows the language to offer Java programmers the ability to write code in which the actual behavior is determined at runtime. Of the eleven buzzwords used to define Java, this article is going to focus on the dynamic nature of the Java programming language. One of the salient aspects of the Java language is the control it gives to developers for dynamically generating and reusing code. This allows the language to offer Java programmers the abil... (more)

So What? - It Seems That JavaOne Isn't Just Nerd Nirvana Anymore... This Is A Good Sign.

Yes, I was in San Francisco last month - but unlike the other 25,000 pilgrims, I wasn't fortunate enough to pay full homage to the Mecca of Java: JavaOne 2000. Instead, I was trapped in somewhat less than invigorating business meetings. I was also in a hurry to get back to Dallas to my wife and my brand new (two-week old) baby boy. However, I did manage to sneak out for a few hours on two separate days to the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco to sip from the Java technology cup.... Although my impressions of JavaOne this year are based mainly on this brief interlude, I've... (more)

<Patterns> XMLDesign </Patterns>

I spent the last weekend childproofing our house. You see, my 11 month-old son has been in India for the last three months with his grandparents. We are going there this weekend to pick him up. I've heard he now moves around speedily and is not easily fooled by an adult's tricks. Anyway, as I was screwing on latches for drawers and cabinets and installing the famous gate needed in any house with stairs, my mind kept wandering to how a nerd like me could do such a good job with hardware. It was all very simple because this procedure has been done many, many times before. All I had... (more)

Electronic Java

Hello, and welcome to electronic Java! In this column we'll examine the role of Java in the fast-growing world of electronic commerce. We'll also look at how the different components of the Java 2 Platform fit together to create complete enterprise-level e-commerce applications. This column will also focus on how these technologies relate to the world of Java and vice versa. Before we get into the specifics of how Java contributes to the world of e-commerce, I'd like to set the stage by briefly introducing e-commerce and how it relates to the Internet. Of course, once we get to the... (more)