Most businesses require processes to function properly. There are different
types of processes. Some processes are human-intensive, others
machine-intensive, and the last type is a combination of the first two. Some
examples of business processes are payroll, new product introductions, new
employee hiring, etc. In most cases, these business processes require
intervention from multiple entities and thus, are normally long running.
Workflow is one of the mechanisms used by businesses to express their
business processes as a series of self-contained activities. Business Process
Management (BPM) systems provided an environment for developers to create,
execute, and manage workflows. These workflows are normally expressed using
Finite State Machine (FSM), Unified Modeling La... (more)
One of the primary reasons for the success of Java has been its robust
dynamic class loading mechanism. The Java Virtual Machine ClassLoader is a
mechanism that Java uses to load classes at runtime. Techniques to take
advantage of Java's dynamic nature and the interactive nature of the Web
usually create a spark of interest in the Java community.
This article leads the reader through the ... (more)
Welcome to Java and XML - the promised land. In the context of these two
technologies the promised land presents a series of solutions in which the
marriage between Java and XML has provided an optimal answer for solving
distributed multiplatform problems. But do XML and Java actually pave the
road to data interchange nirvana? Let's embark on a journey to analyze and
evaluate the hype an... (more)
This month's column shows the advantages of using Java and XML to implement
the Command Pattern. It also provides a brief illustration of how this
pattern can be used to implement transaction integrity via compensating
actions.
Patterns provide developers with reproducible solutions to common problems.
The format for describing a pattern consists of a description of the problem,
a brief... (more)
This month I'm sitting in Ajit Sagar's seat while he takes care of family
matters associated with the recent death of his father.
As I sat at home thinking about various ways to welcome you to this new
edition of XML-Journal, I thought there might be a parallel between the loss
of a loved one and the death of technologies. Rather than concentrating on
the loss, however, I believe it's bet... (more)