Israel Hilerio

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 development of a new Java ClassLoader mechanism that leverages the Web for downloading Java classes. It begins with an overview of the Java ClassLoader mechanism, followed by an examination of how Java's ClassLoader can be extended to download Java classes from multiple Web servers to be used by a single Java application. This will allow users to develop applications that download behavi... (more)

Java and XML: The Promised Land

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)

XML 'Programming'

This month I'd like to continue on the theme of technology reincarnation that Israel Hilerio introduced in October's editorial. Technologies undergo a life cycle. Some of the facets of this life cycle are repeated among the different technologies. XML is no exception. However, the challenge is accepting an entity, be it a technology or a person, for what it is. Everything has a natural p... (more)

The Role of XML in Workflow-Based Applications

Process- or workflow-based applications are making a comeback. They ease the concept of plug-and-play functionality by separating application logic into discrete individual components that can be replaced at deployment time by existing infrastructure logic. This type of approach allows us to develop software to the 80/20 rule. Using this rule, enough functionality can be provided out of ... (more)

What Is Windows Workflow Foundation?

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 en... (more)