SOA, New?

Is SOA something “new” that supersedes OO concepts (as some from MS and elsewhere are proclaiming), or is it that SOA forces us to throw away our OO concepts due to it’s limitations? (This is actually a “comment“ posted to Rockford Lhotka's blog.)

Think about it, SOA can't possibly be, with the current state of technology, Object Oriented. If we want to use SOA (and it’s too compelling not to consider it), we’re forced into the limitation of data messaging and work requests only. It's because of a technological and/or standards limitation that OO is omitted from SOA technologies (like Web Services and other messaging technologies). SOA is not replacing OO (as some have suggested) … SOA just flat can’t tolerate OO right now.

The present roar of SOA exists mainly because of its ability to present us with a straightforward common denominator of interoperability between disparate systems or interoperability between systems that won’t trust each other. Right now, (and who knows, this could change over time) disparate systems (Windows, UNIX, Linux, Mac OS, mainframe OSs, etc.) cannot understand data packaged with behaviors (including business rules) that emanate from a foreign type of machine. Raw data can be understood by separate information systems much easier now that Web Services have been introduced; and asking a “foreign” machine to do some work can be accomplished much easier now. This is what SOA related technologies bring to the table. And SOA IS quite compelling.

So, time to break out our data flow diagrams of yesteryear (and hey, I do still like them!).

What is different and compelling about SOA related technologies are the doors that they swing open regarding interoperability that just was not there a couple years ago without expending a lot of effort. So, if we want that goodness, we have to architect for message based inter-op limitations, and it’s these limitations that force us to think a little differently when designing a SOA based set of systems.

So, when I hear people speak out regarding Object Oriented Analysis and Design that “OOAD is Dead” (i.e.; from Steven Borg presenting the Microsoft Connected Systems RoadShow in Denver, for example) or "OO is done, but not dead" (from Don Box on DotNetRocks episode 89) I chuckle when I know that this is being said due to the current limitations of what SOA's related technologies can offer today. SOA really makes us jump back in time to skip over a whole span of evolutionary refinement of system design using OO. Maybe SOA will be able to catch up one day down the road when a “new” technological innovation (or just a plain standard) is produced that allows the exchange of data and its related behavior. Then we’ll get to hear all over again that there’s a new compelling thing in town ("SOOA" perhaps?) that you’ll all want to advance toward. ;-)>

Roy

posted on Tuesday, November 30, 2004 11:45 AM

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# re: SOA, New? 4/29/2005 11:59 PM Eric Decker

You get em Roy. Why is saying OO is dead so prevalent. I've heard it said from quite a few sources. There seems to be a segment of peopler out there that that blurp this out whenever anything new comes along. Why?

# re: SOA, New? 7/18/2008 8:11 AM mistoru

The effects of the psychic force’s release, however, are too much for Tetsuo to handle, who slowly goes mad as his powers increase. Unable to tolerate his imprisonment and be experimented on, Tetsuo flees the lab.

The Colonel, who recently imposed a military manga takeover of the government after an unsuccessful attempt to strip him of his authority, pursues Tetsuo. The Colonel intends to use Tetsuo to increase his martial rule.
http://sig-ment.com/index.php?id=41
http://webkapital.com/index.php?id=88
http://sig-ment.com/index.php?id=16
Meanwhile, a separate faction, of which the agent Kay is part of, is trying to sabotage the AKIRA project to prevent a repeat of the destruction of 30 years ago. Kaneda becomes involved with Kay in his search for his lost friend Tetsuo.

With the Colonel and Kay waiting in the wings

# re: SOA, New? 7/18/2008 8:12 AM karkode

It is the year 2019, 30 years after the first AKIRA project led to the destruction of Tokyo and the start of World War III. The original AKIRA project was a secret experiment to develop a new form of human evolution through the manipulation of the abilities and powers of psychically gifted children. The military hoped to use the children as living weapons, while the scientists had hoped to develop a new genetically superior human being.

But both the military and anime scientists involved in the project learned too late that the power they were seeking could not be controlled. Akira, one of the children involved in the experiment, developed into a force so great, the he literally destroyed everything about him through a terrifying burst of psychic energy, setting off a nuclear-like explosion which led to the world war.
http://alfastok.com/index.php?id=17
http://mistoru.com/index.php?id=72
http://vistorg.com/index.php?id=164
Now, 30 years later, the military and scientific communities decide to revive the AKIRA project, deluded by narrow-mindedness into thinking they could control a power their predecessors could not.

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Roy Ogborn, Orbonyx Corp.

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