EAI Blog

Well, it has been awhile since we got the handout for lab 3.  I have had no time with being gone for a week on spring break, and then being busy the week after trying to catch up.  Hopefully early this week I will be able to start/finish the lab.  I also have a SAP lab to do for another class of mine, which we are using BW 3.5.

I just researched the information needed for my paper due in a week.  I need to start on writing this during my free time this week also.

All in all, this is going to be one busy week for me.

Yesterday I took the midterm exam.  I didn't really know what to expect when signing on to take the exam.  The exam was difficult, but made easier because we could use our book and notes on the exam.  I knew alot of the questions without looking them up, but I looked them up anyhow to make sure.  There were also some tricky questions, which the notes and book helped alot on.  I liked the online format, because I didn't feel the pressure of an in-class exam.  Now, I have to wait and see what I got on the exam.

For class tonight we had to come up with a proposal for our term paper.  This had to be something related to an EAI topic.  I chose to do SOA Security.  I figured this was a big problem when using Service Oriented Architecture.  I have found a lot of good articles on challenges, solutions, and other various bits of information about this subject.

I also interviewed for a job where they are currently working on converting their existing web pages to use web services.  I find this class to be a great tool if I get hired there and put into that position of helping them perform this task.  I don't know if this class alone will teach me enough about web services to be a huge help, but I can also research about them on my own.

I had no idea web services were so complicated.  I figured they where just a little piece of background noise that nobody really paid any attention too.  I got shown wrong, and found out they where a lot more than I thought.  They use their own language called WSDL, or Web Services Description Language.  They also use XML technologies.  This involves; data structures, messages, operations, bindings and services.  Web services can use SOAP as an information protocol.  The main point we took away from this is that it is all about STANDARDS!!!

We learned about middleware also, we learned that middleware is "...any type software that facilitates communication between two or more software systems."  Middleware used to operate separate of the OS, but now it is increasingly common to find most middleware already programmed into the operating system.

I hope to learn a little more about these two topics so I can understand them a little better than I do now. 

This week we went over XML and Web Services.  I have worked with XML documents before when working with ASP.Net.  That wasn't that new to me, but Web Services is.  I went through the lab pretty quickly because I wanted to get it done during class, so I didn't understand fully what was going on.  I need to go back through and see what was actaully going on.  It seems to be a pretty powerful tool to use, and I would like to be able to understand it better and be able to implement it into my work.

On another note, season finale of Prison Break is on tonight!!!  Good thing I have DVR to be able to record the episodes because we have class during that time slot.

   Integration of two different databases is a lot harder then I thought it would be.  I figured you just have to change the titles and data types of columns to make them match up, but in fact, it's a lot more complicated then that.  It's a lot more complicated especially when the database is in another language, which is what we did our exercise about.  You have to take into account; currency, measurements, weight; anything which involves different caculations.  Also, the way a different database tracks items could be different, and you have to figure out a way to transform both ways into one.

   After this, you have to integrate it into the system.  This involves alot of communication becuase the database will be different, and you have to train the users on how to use it.  If the users are not comfortable with knowning their way around the system, they will just not use it, or not use it to the best they can.  Communication goes a long way when integrating a new system, especially one as important as the database.