Israel Hilerio

Most businesses require processes to function properly. There are different types of processes. Some processes are human-intensive, others machine-intensive, and the last type is a combination of the first two. Some examples of business processes are payroll, new product introductions, new employee hiring, etc. In most cases, these business processes require intervention from multiple entities and thus, are normally long running.  Workflow is one of the mechanisms used by businesses to express their business processes as a series of self-contained activities. Business Process Management (BPM) systems provided an environment for developers to create, execute, and manage workflows. These workflows are normally expressed using Finite State Machine (FSM), Unified Modeling Language (UML) Activity Diagrams, UML Swim Lanes, or Flow Charts. Microsoft announced at PDC the un... (more)

URL ClassLoader

One of the primary reasons for the success of Java has been its robust dynamic class loading mechanism. The Java Virtual Machine ClassLoader is a mechanism that Java uses to load classes at runtime. Techniques to take advantage of Java's dynamic nature and the interactive nature of the Web usually create a spark of interest in the Java community. This article leads the reader through the development of a new Java ClassLoader mechanism that leverages the Web for downloading Java classes. It begins with an overview of the Java ClassLoader mechanism, followed by an examination of h... (more)

Java, XML and the Command Patter

This month's column shows the advantages of using Java and XML to implement the Command Pattern. It also provides a brief illustration of how this pattern can be used to implement transaction integrity via compensating actions. Patterns provide developers with reproducible solutions to common problems. The format for describing a pattern consists of a description of the problem, a brief description of the solution, the solution to the problem, good and bad consequences to the solution, and a list of related patterns. The Command Pattern is a behavioral pattern. Behavioral pattern... (more)

Reincarnation of Technologies

This month I'm sitting in Ajit Sagar's seat while he takes care of family matters associated with the recent death of his father. As I sat at home thinking about various ways to welcome you to this new edition of XML-Journal, I thought there might be a parallel between the loss of a loved one and the death of technologies. Rather than concentrating on the loss, however, I believe it's better to concentrate on the reincarnation of technology. My friend Ajit believes the soul lives on and returns to the world in different forms, and it occurred to me that technologies like XML evo... (more)

The Role of XML in Workflow-Based Applications

Process- or workflow-based applications are making a comeback. They ease the concept of plug-and-play functionality by separating application logic into discrete individual components that can be replaced at deployment time by existing infrastructure logic. This type of approach allows us to develop software to the 80/20 rule. Using this rule, enough functionality can be provided out of the box to solve a specific problem (80%) without customization. Over time, the software can be enhanced and customized to leverage enterprise application data (20%) without modifying the overall ... (more)