Transcript Active Integration

Simplified Middleware & Tools
Freedom
End User Programming for the Web
Asaf Adi, Maya Barnea, Nili Guy, Samuel Kallner, Yoav
Rubin, Gal Shachor
IBM Haifa Research
Mount Carmel, Haifa University Campus, Israel
© Copyright IBM Corporation 2009
Simplified Middleware & Tools
Web 2.0
 The promise:
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Oriented around the end user
End users actively contribute to applications on the Web
Situational Applications help the long tail
 Applications that would never be dealt with by traditional IT
 Often built by the end users themselves
 In practice
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End users contribute content
 Blogs, sites such as You Tube, Flickr, etc.
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Lack of contributions of applications
 Application development still requires programming
 Tools exist to simplify the effort
- Improve programmer productivity
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Simplified Middleware & Tools | PLDE 2009 – April 2009
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Simplified Middleware & Tools
Today’s Times
• Much is changing
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New customer demands, new business models, emerging economies
• Financial Challenges
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Global economic shifts, erratic fuel prices
• Can be still profitable
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IF, one responds to the above challenges
• However
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IT still not productive enough
IT focused on strategic applications
• Web 2.0 paradigms could have helped
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Many applications need only be “good enough”
Users want to be self sufficient
Many tools require to much “programming”
Other tools and technologies are not scalable enough
• Microsoft Excel is great unless many need to update the spread sheet
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Simplified Middleware & Tools
A new business landscape is emerging which requires more
frequent and fundamental business model innovation
Global Economic Shifts
Erratic Energy Prices
Information Explosion
New Business Models
New Customer Demands
98%
Emerging Economies
3X
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Increase in gap between
expected change and
ability to handle change
Of CEOs plan business
model changes
1 – IBM Global CEO Study 2008
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WebSphere Inner Circle - IBM Confidential
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Simplified Middleware & Tools
Goal Driven Development (GDD)
 A development process in which the user’s end goal is in the center
 All non-goal related details are hidden
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Especially technical ones
 GDD Tools:
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Are Goal oriented
Are targeted at a specific user set
Have a set of abstractions and metaphors specific to the problem being solved
Are easy to use
Simplified Middleware & Tools | PLDE 2009 – April 2009
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Simplified Middleware & Tools
Target User Roles
Business User
Skilled Business User
Business Developer
Professional Developer
 Business goals only.
Trying to get their job
done. Applications or
solutions are a
means to an end.
May want the ability
to customize their
environment using
non-IT tools.
 Business goals.
Department ‘guru’.
Can use more
sophisticated tools to
enable Bus to
accomplish tasks.
Often needs to
automate repeatable
processes.
 Mix of business and
IT goals. IT part of
their role, but work
closely with the
business users. Need
to quickly turn around
applications for their
internal customers.
 IT focused. Build
anything to meet the
business sponsors
needs. Don’t want to
focus on the smaller
projects, in general.
 Skills – experts in
their business tasks,
use computers,
browse the web, but
no development
skills, even HTML.
No desire to learn
either.
 Skills – experts in the
business, not a
developer type but
understands
technology and is
willing to spend a
certain amount of time
to learn the tools if the
payback is quick and
large enough.
 Skills – Web
technologies –
HTML, XML, CSS,
Script (JavaScript, VB,
LotusScript). Domino
developer. Not a
Computer Science
Major. Could be a
system admin.
 Skills – J2EE (Java,
JSP, Portlets,
Servlets, EJBs,
Database). Use WID.
Can build anything
they need. Computer
Science major.
Understands object
oriented
programming
techniques.
Source: Lotus Software Application Development Tools User Research, Sandra Kogan, 2004
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Simplified Middleware & Tools
Freedom – A set of Web Application Development Tools
Freedom
Designer
Freedom
Composer
Freedom
Templates
• Customize
killer
applications
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• Declaratively
construct very
simple
application from
forms and
reports
• Visual
composition of
applications
• Developing UI,
Scripts and
workflows
• Customizing
data access and
accessing
services
Simplified Middleware & Tools | PLDE 2009 – April 2009
IT Centric
IBM
development
tools
• Technology
intensive
development
• Targeting
professional
developers
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© 2009 IBM Corporation
Simplified Middleware & Tools
Freedom IDEs
 Are all web based
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No lengthy install
User can immediately try and get feedback
 Easy to use
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Simple things are very simple
Functionality scales with moderate extra effort
 Hide appropriate details from the user
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Different tools expose different levels of abstractions
Freedom Templates
 Only points of variability are exposed
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Freedom Composer
 Only the contents of the form being built is exposed
- Not even the “Submit” button is exposed
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Simplified Middleware & Tools
Freedom IDEs
 Based on Web 2.0, AJAX based technology
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RIA experience
More responsive to the user
Lower load on the server
 Work with an application meta model
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Application specific artifacts generated from templates on the server
Easily tailored to a specific deployment scenario
Simplified Middleware & Tools | PLDE 2009 – April 2009
© 2009 IBM Corporation
Simplified Middleware & Tools
Demo: The Alligator Banking Corporation Silver Asset Program
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Jane Smith is the district manager for the Alligator Banking Corporation
Bank (ABC Bank), a bank with branches throughout Florida and Georgia.
Jane Smith is responsible for forty branches in southeastern Florida.
ABC Bank had developed a Silver Assets program for its baby boomer
customers
Jane decided that her district would go one step beyond the Silver Assets
program and institute a breakfast seminar series on investing for retirees.
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Asked each of the forty branch managers to work with:
 Potential customers
 Local organizations that serve well off seniors (e.g. museums, golf clubs)
 Locations that can hold monthly breakfast meetings
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Breakfast seminars should be organized by the local branch reps. Agreement
with local providers should be approved by the branch manager and a breakfast
seminar should be approved by Jane
Jane would like to receive reports on event participation and new bank
customers resulting from the event.
Simplified Middleware & Tools | PLDE 2009 – April 2009
© 2009 IBM Corporation
Simplified Middleware & Tools
Freedom – Human Based Workflows
 Various business processes are built around forms.
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A form is “submitted” and subsequently handled by many people
 Most tools today reflect the “State Diagram” of the process
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In an XML file that needs to be written
In a GUI in which you use boxes, circles, and arrows to draw a state diagram
 Freedom has a different approach
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The user simply works with the form
Declares what happens when buttons are pressed
Simplified Middleware & Tools | PLDE 2009 – April 2009
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Simplified Middleware & Tools
Demo Part Two
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Simplified Middleware & Tools | PLDE 2009 – April 2009
© 2009 IBM Corporation
Simplified Middleware & Tools
Thank you
 Samuel Kallner
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Freedom Project Leader
[email protected]
 Asaf Adi
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Manager of the Simplified Middleware & Tool group
[email protected]
Simplified Middleware & Tools | PLDE 2009 – April 2009
© 2009 IBM Corporation