When patterns and frameworks get the job done

I loooove good technical arguments. Over the last couple of years, I have stayed out of the community discussions around REST, Web Services, SOA, Grid, and all that. This was a conscious decision on my part. I much prefer to focus on building technology rather than arguing about it 🙂 However, I still enjoy monitoring what’s going on out there.

The recent publication of the “SOA Manifesto” created some heated discussion. Jim Webber wrote a fun post while Don Box pointed to a humorous page. As the discussion continued, Jim’s “Guerilla SOA” video and rhetoric attracted even more attention. Today, Jim published a great great post about the costs of middleware in building enterprise solutions (“Joe Moe on Guerilla SOA“).

I am a huge fun of simplicity, using the right tools for the job, and incorporating into a solution only what’s absolutely necessary. Jim makes a great point about frameworks. It made me think about the extraordinary value of combining good frameworks with the application of good software patterns and engineering practices.

Of course, one could argue that many frameworks are indeed middleware. But who cares about terminology? As Jim illustrates, when the job is done on time, cheaply, and with immediate positive impact to a customer’s business, who cares about what constitutes middleware vs a framework?

The trick of course is in the application of the right patterns and practices. Again, Jim’s experience shows the great benefit to the customer of consistently following a disciplined development methodology.

Well said mate!