Middleware

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Middleware is a type of computer software program that provides services to software applications beyond those available from the operating system. It can be described as "software glue". [1] [2]

Contents

Middleware makes it easier for software developers to implement communication and input/output, so they can focus on the specific purpose of their application. It gained popularity in the 1980s as a solution to the problem of how to link newer applications to older legacy systems, although the term had been in use since 1968. [3]

In distributed applications

Software architecture: Middleware Middleware Schema.svg
Software architecture: Middleware

The term is most commonly used for software that enables communication and management of data in distributed applications. An IETF workshop in 2000 defined middleware as "those services found above the transport (i.e. over TCP/IP) layer set of services but below the application environment" (i.e. below application-level APIs). [4] In this more specific sense middleware can be described as the dash ("-") in client-server , or the -to- in peer-to-peer . Middleware includes web servers, application servers, content management systems, and similar tools that support application development and delivery. [5]

ObjectWeb defines middleware as: "The software layer that lies between the operating system and applications on each side of a distributed computing system in a network." [6] Services that can be regarded as middleware include enterprise application integration, data integration, message oriented middleware (MOM), object request brokers (ORBs), and the enterprise service bus (ESB). [7]

Database access services are often characterised as middleware. Some of them are language specific implementations and support heterogeneous features and other related communication features. [8] Examples of database-oriented middleware include ODBC, JDBC, and transaction processing monitors. [9]

Distributed computing system middleware can loosely be divided into two categories—those that provide human-time services (such as web request servicing) and those that perform in machine-time. This latter middleware is somewhat standardized through the Service Availability Forum [10] and is commonly used in complex, embedded systems within the telecom, defence, and aerospace industries. [11]

Usage of middleware

Many categories of middleware have been defined, based on the field in which it is used or the application module it serves. In recent bibliography, the main categories of middleware are the following: [12]

Other examples

The term middleware is used in other contexts as well. Middleware is sometimes used in a similar sense to a software driver, an abstraction layer that hides detail about hardware devices or other software from an application.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Client–server model</span> Distributed application structure in computing

The client–server model, also known as client server network architecture, is a distributed application structure that partitions tasks or workloads between the providers of a resource or service, called servers, and service requesters, called clients. Often clients and servers communicate over a computer network on separate hardware, but both client and server may reside in the same system. A server host runs one or more server programs, which share their resources with clients. A client usually does not share any of its resources, but it requests content or service from a server. Clients, therefore, initiate communication sessions with servers, which await incoming requests. Examples of computer applications that use the client–server model are email, network printing, and the World Wide Web.

In distributed computing, a Remote Procedure Call (RPC) is when a computer program causes a procedure (subroutine) to execute in a different address space, which is written as if it were a normal (local) procedure call, without the programmer explicitly writing the details for the remote interaction. That is, the programmer writes essentially the same code whether the subroutine is local to the executing program, or remote. This is a form of client–server interaction, typically implemented via a request–response message passing system. In the object-oriented programming paradigm, RPCs are represented by remote method invocation (RMI). The RPC model implies a level of location transparency, namely that calling procedures are largely the same whether they are local or remote, but usually, they are not identical, so local calls can be distinguished from remote calls. Remote calls are usually orders of magnitude slower and less reliable than local calls, so distinguishing them is important.

Middleware in the context of distributed applications is software that provides services beyond those provided by the operating system to enable the various components of a distributed system to communicate and manage data. Middleware supports and simplifies complex distributed applications. It includes web servers, application servers, messaging and similar tools that support application development and delivery. Middleware is especially integral to modern information technology based on XML, SOAP, Web services, and service-oriented architecture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">QNX</span> Real-time operating system (RTOS) software

QNX is a commercial Unix-like real-time operating system, aimed primarily at the embedded systems market.

In computing, cross-platform software is computer software that is designed to work in several computing platforms. Some cross-platform software requires a separate build for each platform, but some can be directly run on any platform without special preparation, being written in an interpreted language or compiled to portable bytecode for which the interpreters or run-time packages are common or standard components of all supported platforms.

A computing platform, digital platform, or software platform is an environment in which software is executed. It may be the hardware or the operating system (OS), a web browser and associated application programming interfaces, or other underlying software, as long as the program code is executed using the services provided by the platform. Computing platforms have different abstraction levels, including a computer architecture, an OS, or runtime libraries. A computing platform is the stage on which computer programs can run.

A web service (WS) is either:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inter-process communication</span> How computer operating systems enable data sharing

In computer science, inter-process communication (IPC), also spelled interprocess communication, are the mechanisms provided by an operating system for processes to manage shared data. Typically, applications can use IPC, categorized as clients and servers, where the client requests data and the server responds to client requests. Many applications are both clients and servers, as commonly seen in distributed computing.

An application server is a server that hosts applications or software that delivers a business application through a communication protocol. For a typical web application, the application server sits behind the web servers.

In computer science, message queues and mailboxes are software-engineering components typically used for inter-process communication (IPC), or for inter-thread communication within the same process. They use a queue for messaging – the passing of control or of content. Group communication systems provide similar kinds of functionality.

Message-oriented middleware (MOM) is software or hardware infrastructure supporting sending and receiving messages between distributed systems. MOM allows application modules to be distributed over heterogeneous platforms and reduces the complexity of developing applications that span multiple operating systems and network protocols. The middleware creates a distributed communications layer that insulates the application developer from the details of the various operating systems and network interfaces. APIs that extend across diverse platforms and networks are typically provided by MOM.

In computer science, message passing is a technique for invoking behavior on a computer. The invoking program sends a message to a process and relies on that process and its supporting infrastructure to then select and run some appropriate code. Message passing differs from conventional programming where a process, subroutine, or function is directly invoked by name. Message passing is key to some models of concurrency and object-oriented programming.

In computing, a solution stack or software stack is a set of software subsystems or components needed to create a complete platform such that no additional software is needed to support applications. Applications are said to "run on" or "run on top of" the resulting platform.

The Internet Communications Engine, or Ice, is an open-source RPC framework developed by ZeroC. It provides SDKs for C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, MATLAB, Objective-C, PHP, Python, Ruby and Swift, and can run on various operating systems, including Linux, Windows, macOS, iOS and Android.

Configurable Network Computing or CNC is JD Edwards's (JDE) client–server proprietary architecture and methodology. Now a division of the Oracle Corporation, Oracle continues to sponsor the ongoing development of the JD Edwards Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, While highly flexible, the CNC architecture is proprietary and, as such, it cannot be exported to any other systems. While the CNC architecture's chief 'Claim to fame', insulation of applications from the underlying database and operating systems, were largely superseded by modern web-based technology, nevertheless CNC technology continues to be at the heart of both JD Edwards' One World and Enterprise One architecture and is planned to play a significant role Oracle's developing fusion architecture initiative. While a proprietary architecture, CNC is neither an Oracle nor JDE product offering. The term CNC also refers to the systems analysts who install, maintain, manage and enhance this architecture. CNC's are also one of the three technical areas in the JD Edwards Enterprise Resource Planning ERP which include developer/report writer and functional/business analysts.

Robotics middleware is middleware to be used in complex robot control software systems.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">API</span> Software interface between computer programs

An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs or components to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how to build or use such a connection or interface is called an API specification. A computer system that meets this standard is said to implement or expose an API. The term API may refer either to the specification or to the implementation. Whereas a system's user interface dictates how its end-users interact with the system in question, its API dictates how to write code that takes advantage of that system's capabilities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rodos (operating system)</span> Real-time operating system

Rodos is a real-time operating system for embedded systems and was designed for application domains demanding high dependability.

References

  1. ↑ "Middleware conference". middleware-conf.github.io. Retrieved 2023-12-16. Middleware is a distributed-system software that resides between applications and underlying platforms (operating systems; databases; hardware), and/or ties together distributed applications, databases or devices. Its primary role is to coordinate and enable communication between different layers or components while isolating much of the complexity of distribution into a single, well tested and well understood system abstraction.
  2. ↑ "What is Middleware?". Middleware.org. Defining Technology. 2008. Archived from the original on June 29, 2012. Retrieved 2013-08-11.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. ↑ Gall, Nick (July 30, 2005). "Origin of the term middleware" . Retrieved May 21, 2008.
  4. ↑ "Home". IETF.
  5. ↑ Etzkorn, L. H. (2017). Introduction to Middleware: Web Services, Object Components, and Cloud Computing. CRC Press. pp. 4–5. ISBN   9781498754101.
  6. ↑ Krakowiak, Sacha. "What's middleware?". ObjectWeb.org. Archived from the original on 2005-05-07. Retrieved 2005-05-06.
  7. ↑ Luckham, D. C. (2011). Event Processing for Business: Organizing the Real-Time Enterprise. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 27–28. ISBN   9781118171851.
  8. ↑ Simon, A. R.; Wheeler, T. (2014). Open Client/Server Computing and Middleware. Academic Press. pp. 43–49. ISBN   9781483214276.
  9. ↑ Arregoces, M.; Portolani, M. (2003). Data Center Fundamentals. Cisco Press. pp. 92–93. ISBN   9781587140747.
  10. ↑ "Service Availability Interface Specification" (PDF). Service Availability Forum. 30 September 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  11. ↑ Jokiaho, T.; Fryer, J. (2012). "Foreword". Service Availability: Principles and Practice. John Wiley & Sons. p. xv. ISBN   9781119941675.
  12. ↑ Gazis, Alexandros; Katsiri, Eleftheria (15 March 2022). "Middleware 101: What to know now and for the future". doi: 10.1145/3526211 . S2CID   247494415.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  13. ↑ Charlie Collins, Michael Galpin and Matthias Kaeppler, Android in Practice, Manning Publications, 2011
  14. ↑ Moore, M. E. (2006). Introduction to the Game Industry. Pearson Prentice Hall. p. 169. ISBN   9780131687431.
  15. ↑ Becchini, R.; Chilaev, P.; Krivtsov, V.; et al. (2003). "Chapter 4: Middleware". In Drira, K.; Martelli, A.; Villemur, T. (eds.). Cooperative Environments for Distributed Systems Engineering: The Distributed Systems Environment Report. Springer. pp. 41–4. ISBN   9783540455820.
  16. ↑ Hadim, S. and Mohamed, N. (2006). Middleware challenges and approaches for wireless sensor networks. IEEE Distributed Systems Online vol 7. Issue 3. Retrieved March 4, 2009 from iEEE Distributed Systems Online Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ↑ "QNX Software Joins Internet ITS Consortium of Japan". QNX News Releases. QNX. 6 May 2008. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  18. ↑ Glover, B.; Bhatt, H. (2006). RFID Essentials. O'Reilly Media. pp. 38–44. ISBN   9780596009441.


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