…is a valid option to write a full software entreprise stack?
Even if JBoss is not listed in my CV, I had recently a looked at it to check its capabilities as of environemtn for a full software entreprise stack (I may update my CV now even if we do not use it…but I made some prototyping with it and have a clear view of its capabilities).
First, what we need?
- container for decoupled applications
- persistance
- UI (web 2.0 would be a plus)
- engines as workflow and scripting
- scallable
- …and more
Back to some fundamentals…
I had AOP
AOP that SoC ?
Beyond AOP…
I had a AOP
Their are 2 ortogonal (I like orthogonality 
) concpets: OOP and AOP.
OOP (Object Oriented Programing) is a software technic which is based on the concept of object (attributs and methodes) and inheritency (a car is a vehicul which is a tranportation mode…etc).
AOP (Aspect Oriented Programing) is a software technic ortogonal to OOP which help in “doing repetitive stuff” amongs objects in a simple manner as for example: logging, security, transaction management…etc (always the same examples).
In our case, the AOP is the entry point to get more…
AOP that SoC ?
AOP can also be used to do SoC (that I like too). SoC is Seperation Of Concern. The idea is to deintroduce decoupling between layers and services of the application stack. The trend is to use AOP as a support to do SoC.
Beyond AOP…
AOP as support to do decoupling…
- some says IoC (Invertion of Control) … technical detail
- some says DI (Dependency Injection) … I hate this wording
- through a Service locator … Yes that’s it !
A service locator allows you to access services (transversal as logging, or not as an application) without bothering with wirering (managing dependencies) and creation (resolution).
You just request a specific service to your AOP system.
Back to jBoss…
So what jBoss is proposing?
- Application Container: jBoss AS
- Service Locator : jBoss IoC + ejb
- Web UI : jBoss Seam (+ ajax4Jsf or RichFaces or IcesFaces for the Web 2.0)
- Workflow engine: jBoss Seam + jBoss jBPM
- Scripting engine: jBoss Seam + groovy
- Rule engine: jBoss Seam + drool
- Wizard engine: jBoss Seam conversation context
- Persistance: jBoss + JPA + hibernate
It’s preatty amazing how jBoss is exhaustive. I may miss some important features … but that’s a good start.