RE: [service-orientated-architecture] TSpaces (was: Re: XML Tuple Spaces as Middleware)

[Gervas Douglas]

I fear that you have a point, Keith.  Tuple Spaces is a paradigm which demands a spot of creative imagination; its seductively elegant simplicity of concept belies the need to shuffle blocks of grey cells around in unaccustomed ways.  Do it in haste and it will disorientate you.  This is the main reason why I suggested:   Shielding the apps programmer from the middleware’s TS engine That you read Patrick’s paper.  Patrick is also a clever man, as well as being a congenial and stimulating conversationalist, BTW [yes, I do know him – no, I am not his paid PR agent].   You are being kind to Sun’s corporate marketing.  To be fair, when Jini came out, I remember it created a bit of a stir in the Java community, quite rightly too.  Jxta also did briefly.  From what I have heard, Sun has gathered a pack of original and often modest technical geniuses in its Orphan Java divisions.  It is ironic that it takes a zealous, very bright outsider like Gregg to give them the due in depth that they deserve.   I take your point about educating people in Computer Science departments.  As a parallel example, when I was doing some work for Sleepycat (purveyors of Berkeley DB family of data management products – clever stuff, now sold to Oracle), I came across a lot of techies who could not conceive the use of the term “database” except in an RDBMS context.  With novel paradigms and technologies, in my experience, one of the biggest marketing challenges is that of market education.  Believe me, when cold-calling this is a challenge!   Gervas   From: service-orientated-architecture@yahoogroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Keith Harrison-Broninski Sent: 14 April 2006 19:22 To: service-orientated-architecture@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [service-orientated-architecture] TSpaces (was: Re: XML Tuple Spaces as Middleware)   Gervas Douglas wrote: I have never heard a single simple convincing explanation for why no tuple spaces implementation has taken off. I suspect the reason is the same for TSpaces as for Jini.  It's just too different, and difficult, for most people to understand. Look how long and hard Gregg has had to work to get people on this list, who must be among the brightest and most techie in IT, to appreciate what Jini has to offer.  It's only recently that more than one or two people have started to acknowledge that he may have a point!  And unless you have taken the time to actually build code with Jini, you are unlikely to fully "get" it.  Taking just one example, witness the recent misunderstanding about how RMI works. So I don't think Jini's poor take-up is solely the fault of Sun's marketing department, really.  Awareness won't really change until Jini and RMI are given their due in CS classes at all levels.  What Sun should be doing is focusing on the next generation. I'm not particularly a Jini devotee, by the way.  But I have used it to build a large-scale commercial product (as an optional alternative persistence mechanism to an RDBMS), and can see how in many ways Jini offers looser coupling than XML-based approaches. --   All the best Keith   http://keith.harrison-broninski.info   YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS  Visit your group "service-orientated-architecture" on the web.    To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:  [EMAIL PROTECTED]    Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.