EAI Blog

Well, Spring Break is over!  It seems like it only jst started, and now it's back to reality.  Maybe it went so fast because I spent the better part of the week in bed with the flu.  I did however manage to drag myself out for a little bit on St. Patrick's Day.  Somehow the Guinness taste sweeter on March 17th. 

From Left:  Patrick, bodhran; Emma, fiddle; Elly, fiddle at the Mitchell Street Domes

Maddie (on the right) with friends.

Anyway I've been looking at Lab 3 again, and for whatever reason I'm having a little bit of a hard time visualizing how SAP XI fits.  Is SAP XI just a go between for other applications.  If so how do those applications interface with the XI environment?  I suppose I should look at Lab 3b to see if it goes any further.  In all of this academic learning I really am finding that I just can't grasps the concepts by reading about them.  It's not until I am able to get a little hands on can I really get it. 

The same has proven to be true for Services and Service Oriented Architecture.  I am actually in the process of helping implementing a Windows Communication Foundation Service at Zywave.  (Visual flashing lights and bells ringing here!)  I can see how its being built and utilized by the actual User Interface.  At the same time I am seeing how implemention of Services can be a little problematic.  I think, just from very casual observation, that the biggest problem with services is the developers themselves.  It realy is a difficult culture to change.  If a developer has a problem the developer figures out the solution.  If the dream of a stock library of Services is to be realized then developers themselves will need to first check to see if a solution already exists when they're presened with a problem.  One of the developers at Zywave said as much.  He also said that if they had begun using services five years ago then there would be fewer developers employed there.  Perhaps therein lies the rub.  Nobody wants to develope themselves out of a job!