The holidays are here…
And everyone I see is ready for them. There seem to be more lights up, more decorations, and more smiles. 2005 won't go down in the annuals as a terrific year. The effects of the tsunami in late 2004 were actually felt in 2005. Then 2005 brought its own disasters with hurricanes, earthquakes, droughts, and floods. UNICEF says it had not responded to such an array of humanitarian emergencies in a single year in recent memory. With all this, the holiday season is being greeted with care and generosity. Not only are people looking forward to their own personal celebrations, everyone I know is reaching out to those in need. That seems to be the silver lining.
Personal celebrations are starting for many of my friends and family with the purchase of an artificial tree. We've had vehement objections every year to anyone who even suggested it, but somehow most everyone, completely independently, decided to finally give in to the fake tree. Which, living in Florida, we probably should have done years ago. This includes me, and I have to admit that I am delighted with a controllable tree. I've been able to use ornaments that never fit before (now I can simply move the branches), or were too heavy (nothing seems to be too heavy!). Most important, the tree is up and decorated early in December. We can enjoy it for more than 10 days this year. Life is change - change is good.
To all of you and your families, have a wonderful holiday season. Best wishes from all of us at SemCo. We're looking forward to an exciting new year! IT will, as usual, bring lots of those changes, and it'll be fun to keep up and grow with them.
Happy Holidays…
The schedule for the first quarter of 2006 is below, or view the complete schedule on the Website:
CSTA Web sessions:
January 10,11
February 1,2
March 1,2
CSTA classroom sessions:
December 15 - Chicago
January 19 - New York City area
January 31 - Atlanta
February 7 - Chicago
February 16 - DC
March 23 - Boston
UITJ (Understanding IT Jobs) Web sessions:
January 11
February 2
March 2
TR Web session:
February 22
Keep in touch . . .
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Architects and Building
Since the beginning of "data processing" in the 1960s, people have been aware of the similarities that exist whether creating a building or a software system. Both have to be analyzed and designed. Both have to be tested before being used. Both can have hidden errors that aren't discovered until actual use!
And the professionals in both fields use some of the same nouns in their titles: designers, engineers, and especially lately, architects.
Think about an architect in the building industry. An architect is a professional who can interpret the needs and wants of his or her clients and create an edifice that is:
• functionally correct,
• structurally stable,
• aesthetically pleasing,
• fits in with the environment,
• complies with standards and regulations,
• affordable.
IT architects must do the same. The systems they design must be functional – meaning they must do what they are supposed to do, and produce correct results. This means that paychecks must be correct, and all taxes, benefits, etc. must be properly processed. Software systems should be stable and should not crash. We can change aesthetically pleasing to user friendly, which is more often the reference in IT, but it still means satisfactory to the users. Software has to fit in with the operating systems, database systems, networks, existing hardware, and other parts of the technical environment. Standards and regulations are rampant, both internally and externally. Note the importance of HIPPA and SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley) in today's IT. And, affordable is self-explanatory. IT, in fact, has many architects.
For many years IT has been moving from stand-alone systems development to enterprise (whole company) development, and SOA (Service Oriented Architecture). Data integration includes software supporting data hubs (a data architecture which allows data to be used across multiple systems) and customer hubs (central repository of customer knowledge). We have ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems that will run entire companies. EA (Enterprise Architecture) is growing in importance.
EA (Enterprise Architecture)
Enterprise architecture identifies the main components of IT and how they work together. EA links the business mission, strategy, and processes of an organization to its IT strategy. It is documented using multiple architectural models or views that show how the current and future needs of an organization will be met. By working across the enterprise, it creates leverage and synergies, and avoids duplication and inconsistencies across the enterprise.
EA has actually created many new "architect" jobs.
New Architect Jobs
The new architect jobs have several things in common. First, they're all senior level jobs. The most senior of all of them is enterprise architect, requiring 10-15 years of experience. Most of them work on an enterprise level, and require knowledge of the entire corporate IT function. These include:
• applications, or solutions architect Senior applications developer responsible for understanding the business functions and translating them into technical specs. Primarily concerned with a single system and integrates in-house and purchased software. Develops baseline requirements.
• data or information architect Senior job position responsible for ensuring that data is organized properly and supports the application systems. Works with enterprise data and with more than one system. Develops and maintains standards/compliance issues, manages and maintains user interfaces to data, creates conceptual, logical and physical data models, and builds data dictionaries, database schemas.
• enterprise architect Senior level job responsible for building an overall framework to ensure that all IT functions throughout the enterprise operate in sync with each other and follow the business objectives of the enterprise. Sets strategic direction, manages risks, defines standards, and maintains cross organization communication. Usually requires 10 - 15 years of experience.
• infrastructure architect Senior job position responsible for the physical (hardware) infrastructure of the company. Deals with resource capacity, network capacity, server clustering, administration, and security.
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1. How many passwords do you have?
2. Which of the following does not belong:
a. bluedragon
b. bluefin
c. bluemoon
d. bluetooth
3. Is IM (Instant Messaging) growing in use in the business world, or does it remain a technology mostly used by individuals for personal communications?
4. Are monkey testing and gorilla testing the same thing?
5. What is master data management technology?
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By next month the articles summarizing 2005 and predicting what will happen in IT during 2006 will have started to appear. It's always fun to look ahead and be ready for new and exciting technologies. We're starting work on the 16th edition of Computers: Systems, Terms, and Acronyms, and that always reminds us of what's been happening. For example, one of the updates must be the information we've been covering lately – modeling, architects, enterprise development, and SOA (Service Oriented Architecture). Updating the book reflects the daily updates to TechRef®, and consolidates the existing and new updates to the seminars: CSTA, UITJ, TR, and even the special sessions. Year end is a great time to look ahead to the new year.
One thing we always know – there will be new developments! We're looking forward to sharing these with you throughout 2006. We'll have a new book, updated seminars, and, of course, an always current TechRef®. See you in 2006!
Get in touch!
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Modeling
Modeling has become a standard part of software design, and there are many modeling methodologies and tools. Modeling is a necessary step in the development of large and complex systems, but it's also used with medium and small systems because modeling allows developers to visualize the design and check it against requirements before any code is written. Important facets of modeling include:
action language Programming language used with modeling tools that creates "executable models." Generates code from actions, or models, rather than from statements and commands used in traditional languages.
AM (Agile Modeling) Application development methodology which provides a collection of values, principles, and practices used during development particularly during design/modeling. Agile modeling stresses simplicity and flexibility, not the actual techniques. It stresses that the modeling focus should be on:
Individuals and interactions (not processes and tools)
Working software (not comprehensive documentation)
Customer collaboration (not contract negotiation)
Responding to change (not following a plan).
Agile modeling includes UML (Unified Modeling Language), XP (eXtreme Programming), use case, and CRC (Class Responsibility Collaborator) cards. Agile modeling is supported by the Agile Alliance, a non-profit organization of individual members.
ER (Entity-Relationship) Design and modeling tool used in Information Engineering and in some structured programming methodologies. Graphical picture of the relationship between pieces of data. Originally introduced in the 1970s and still used today. Notational tool used is ER diagrams, which graphically show the data and the relationship between data items.
MDA (Model Driven Architecture) Development methodology. Set of standards that uses software to generate program code from models. Uses UML (Unified Modeling Language) to create platform-independent models. Developed by OMG (Object Management Group) in 2001.
modeling notation The notation is the syntax used to express models, and includes nodes, connectors, containers, parts, diagrams, etc. The notation set is actually the boxes, arrows, lines, etc. and the associated meaning with each. Every modeling system (ER [Entity Relationship] diagrams, UML [Unified Modeling language]) has its own notational set. Learning a modeling system means learning how to express a design in the correct notation.
OMG (Object Management Group) A consortium of vendors whose goal is to develop standards for object-oriented applications. Developed CORBA, UML, XMI, and other standards. Started with 12 member companies in 1989 and presently has approximately 800 members.
OMT (Object Modeling Technique) Object-oriented methodology. Definitive definition and notation of objects incorporating both information and processing. Defines classes, inheritance, and polymorphism, and three types of models; an object model, a dynamic model, and a functional model. Alternative modeling technique to ER (Entity Relationship) modeling. Along with Booch (OOD) and Jacobson (Use Case) provides the basis for UML (Unified Modeling Language) and RUP (Rational Unified Process). Developer: Rumbaugh. Published: 1991.
RUP (Rational Unified Process) Application development tool and development process. Web-enabled, and designed to enhance team productivity. It unifies practices from several software disciplines, and presents guidelines, templates and examples for all development activity. Runs on corporate intranets and coaches all team members on development issues following the full life cycle. Developers use UML (Unified Modeling Language) throughout the development process. RUP was developed by Rational Software Corp. (specifically by Grady Booch, Ivar Jacobson and James Rumbaugh), and can be used in conjunction with any of Rational's development products (Rational Rose, Rational Suite, Rational ClearCase, etc.). Originally called Objectory. Also called Unified Software Process. Runs on Linux, Unix, Windows systems. Released: 1998.
UML (Unified Modeling Language) Development methodology and notational format used in object analysis and design. Works with all object-oriented methodologies. Using UML (Unified Modeling Language), developers define a three-tiered model of the application: user interface, business logic, and database. UML defines thirteen types of diagrams, divided into three categories:
• Structure Diagrams include the Class Diagram, Object Diagram, Component Diagram, Composite Structure Diagram, Package Diagram, and Deployment Diagram.
• Behavior Diagrams include the Use Case Diagram (used by some methodologies during requirements gathering), Activity Diagram, and State Machine Diagram.
• Interaction Diagrams, all derived from the more general Behavior Diagram, include the Sequence Diagram, Communication Diagram, Timing Diagram, and Interaction Overview Diagram.
Combines the methodologies of Grady Booch, Ivar Jacobson and James Rumbaugh and was developed by OMG (Object Management Group) and released: 1996. Version 2.0 released: 2003 and fully adopted July, 2005.
use case Application development technique and notational system used in object-oriented development. Use cases describe a software system based on how end-users will "use" the system, and is an important technique used in writing software requirements. Developers use a chart notation that is stick figures (the end-users, called actors) around a box that contains labeled ellipses (the actions). Use case is part of most object-oriented methodologies, and the technique is now used in all phases of the development cycle, not just the requirements phase. Use case notation is included in UML (Unified Modeling Language) and RUP (Rational Unified Process). The technique was introduced by Jacobson as part of OOSE (Object-Oriented System Engineering) in 1994.
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1. I always ask people how many passwords they have, but never thought there was an answer. My answer is always "I don't know." RSA Security, however, has done a survey, and we now know that many people have at least 13 passwords to remember. Of course, as with many statistics, we're still not sure that tells us anything – is 13 the most anyone has? What does "at least" mean? How many is many? And, I still don't know how many I have.
2. a) Bluedragon does not belong. All the others are communication technologies. Blue dragon is an application development tool used to develop Web sites. It is used to take CFML (ColdFusion Markup Language) applications and redeploy them to J2EE and .NET environment.
3. IM is growing in use in the business world and its use has increased over 71% since 2003. IM cuts out the necessary "chit chat" of a phone call and is a superb way to quickly communicate with co-workers, partners, suppliers, or customers. Popular business uses include presence awareness (a quick way to find the right person to handle an urgent matter), and customer support (answering customer questions and responding to problems).
4. No. Monkey testing is an unscripted test of random activity. The name comes from the theory that a room full of monkeys with a typewriter (or computer) placed in front of each of them would, given enough time, produce the works of Shakespeare. Based on the idea that random activity can create order or cover all options. Gorilla testing is pounding on a site or application in as many ways as the tester can think of without an organized test plan. It is an intense round of testing--quite often redirecting all available resources to the activity to test as much of the application in as short a period of time as possible. Completely different.
5. This is a description of technology that merges both XML and relational database technologies. IBM's DB2 Viper (the next version of DB2 planned for release in 2006) provides seamless management of both conventional relational data and XML data without requiring the XML data to be reformatted or placed into a large object within the database. It supports both SQL and the Xquery query language. Other database vendors will be following with their own versions of master data management technology.
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