The Computer Education Professionals

WebLogic Training Sitemap

Web Service Programming and Application Modernization

Oracle Corporation has been aggressive in acquiring hardware and software technologies. Since 2007, Oracle has acquired over 60 companies as it strives to become a one-stop shop for enterprise computing. Significant changes in the Oracle development platform have been implemented in conjunction with its industry leading Oracle database and the WebLogic Server platform. It's strategy has been to drive growth by selling hardware and software together. Sun Microsystems server business was in decline when purchased by Oracle. Servers are being sold loaded with database software: Exadata and Exalogic.

Oracle has been using its acquisition in FOSS: Free Open Source Software: Java language, Solaris, to extend its existing Oracle software and ensure interoperability and the ability to compete in emerging areas of information technology. Oracle is now competing with both IBM and Hewlet-Packard in multiple markets.

Web Service Programming

A web service is a self-describing large-scale code component, that can discover and communicate with other components using web-based communications in a standardized way. A web consumer can invoke a web service provider, and a web service provider can respond to a web service consumer. The protocols serving as the foundation of web service programming are WSDL: Web Services Definition Language, UDDI: Universal Data Description Interface, SOAP: Simple Object Access Protocol. SOAP is built on the XML Extended Message Language Protocol or the REST protocol.

In order to communicate with a web service, an application adds a web service consumer code. This code uses UDDI to locate the code in the web service in the directory or registry and then sends a SOAP/REST communication to invoke the web service. The web service receives the invocation from the web service provider interface and returns the results of the calling application to the provider interface and SOAP/REST. An environment in which call applications are web services providers and consumers is the SOA: Service Oriented Architecture. When SOA is done correctly, it supports many-to-one standardization with a loosely coupled interface to many types of user interfaces. The Oracle WebLogic Server and development platform provides an efficient information technology infrastructure and middleware software for web-servicization:

Oracle Fusion Middleware

The Oracle 11g Suite uses an integrated SCA-based designer to assemble, deploy, and manage adaptable business applications. It provides unified events and services and end-to-end business tracking. The Oracle Service Bus is a lightweight and scalable SOA standards-based integration platform for high-volume SOA environments. It is used to connect, mediate, and manage interactions between heterogeneous services, legacy applications, packaged applications and multiple ESB: enterprise service bus instances across an enterprise-wide service network.

Sun Microsystems products have been integrated into Oracle Fusion middleware for the purpose of connecting processes and applications through an enterprise portal and providing an application-centric approach to security.

Oracle Public Cloud

Oracle Corporation is developing a cloud computing infrastructure through a combination of its own integrated systems of hardware and software technologies and by acquisition. The consensus is that it will be a multi-billion dollar market. The initial cloud computing service is being marketed based upon the assumption that the security, performance, and ease of use would be superior when a Oracle controlled both the main hardware and software. Based on industry standards, customers can take an existing database and move it to Oracle's Public Cloud. Development and testing can be done on the cloud and then go into production in the client data center. The data services, Java services, and security services have been built in. This public cloud provides customers with access to Oracle Fusion Applications, Oracle Fusion Middleware and Oracle Database. Both application code and data is portable. Enterprise databases can be moved from a company's machine into the Oracle cloud, or created in the Oracle cloud and moved back and forth, or into the clouds run by Amazon, I.B.M. or other computing service providers running in Java.

In the fourth quarter 2011, Oracle announced a $1.5 billion acquisition of RightNow Technologies; the acquisition will add software that helps companies serve customers using call centers, Internet, and social networks. The RightNow resources will be used to provide infrastructure and accelerate the development of the software framework for becoming a major player in the emerging cloud computing market. This RightNow software technology will provide a Microsoft .NET platform to complement the Java cloud computing platform. The acquisition is contingent upon shareholder approval and regulatory approval. The Oracle Public Cloud is not compatible with Salesforce's cloud, which runs on custom languages like APEX and proprietary technologies that do not allow businesses to develop apps in a data center and move them to Salesforce.com or other clouds.