We took our time doing this release, more than five months, but in that time we managed to squeeze in a bunch of features big and small, that we felt were really critical when creating Mashups for Personal, Enterprise and Community use. Of these, I would say data services, security, gadget and OpenID support are the coolest 'big' features we added.
As far as I'm concerned, just getting data service creation into the Mashup Server doubled it's usefulness for almost everybody out there! Now, with mostly mouse clicks and just by stepping through a wizard, you can expose information from a database, spreadsheet or CSV file as a web service! We always had the ability to create and expose data services using the underlying WSAS, but now data services are first class citizens on the Mashup Server, so I can create, edit, delete, tag, comment and rate them from the UI, just like any other Mashup!
I keep remembering projects in a past life, where reading some data from a few tables, applying some business logic to make it a little more useful and then exposing the result as a web page and/or service was such a complicated task that took up days of my time. Using the Mashup Server, I can pretty much achieve the same result in minutes! Mashups you always dreamed of, that combine data from a text file on your desktop and you company's ERP with information on the web and write the results to a database, are now a few clicks away!
Another feature we always felt we needed, especially for the enterprise user, was the ability to secure services. Now all it takes is a few clicks, because you just need to chose one from a list of common security scenarios to be applied to your service! On the other side, you can also call secured services now, using our new and improved WSRequest object.
We also added another another ultra-cool pair of features, a gadget interface for Mashups and a dashboard on which to host them! This would be pretty useful in enterprise scenarios for the manager who wants to see an overview of his or her business in a single page, but it's also loads of fun for everybody else! You can add any Mashup to your own dashboard or iGoogle, create your own custom gadget interface starting with a default template and even import external gadgets into your dashboard. Tyrell wrote about having fun with gadgets here!
OpenID has been the hot new buzzword in the security space and we've got full support in the Mashup Server now. You can just login with your OpenID and if you haven't got an account on the server, you'll be registered, verified and allowed to login, without ever needing to fill a form or key in a password. Jonathan blogged about what WSO2 has been up to on this front.
Besides these, there are a quite a few other improvements that we made since 1.0; over 300 in all! If you really want the details, it's all in our Issue Tracker where everyone logged everything, bugs, improvements, new features and wishes. It wasn't easy getting everything into the release (and we finally had to postpone a few items) but it was fun, educational and something we can look back to with pride!
If you've already downloaded 1.5, taken it for a spin and have a compliment, complaint or wish, please do let us know!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
ESB Leading the Pack
Asankha's team released v1.7 of their Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) a few days back and then did a round of performance tests in which every other vendor running was clearly visible in their rear view mirrors.
Daniel has such a cool post about it, where he starts with what I sometimes end up talking about on a post related to software, cars, and really fast ones in this case!
Why am I so proud of this, you say? First, we're all in the same scuderia, and second, they source the engine block from the same manufacturer we do! If the ESB's the F2008, think of our Mashup Server as a Quattroporte, something you can use to drive the kids to school, but with the same bits inside that will let you go really, really fast if you need to!
Daniel has such a cool post about it, where he starts with what I sometimes end up talking about on a post related to software, cars, and really fast ones in this case!
Why am I so proud of this, you say? First, we're all in the same scuderia, and second, they source the engine block from the same manufacturer we do! If the ESB's the F2008, think of our Mashup Server as a Quattroporte, something you can use to drive the kids to school, but with the same bits inside that will let you go really, really fast if you need to!
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Filling in the Blanks
After a full day training session with the guy who literally 'wrote the book' on Axis2, I'm now well on the way to understanding the engine that drives our Mashup Server!
I have always been grateful to object orientation for allowing me to work with interfaces while having no idea what happens inside, much like I can enjoy a drive without knowing the internals of the combustion engine, but it's fun to learn what actually makes it tick! I suppose could have always walked across to Deepal's seat at any time in the last few months and just asked him any of the stuff I learned yesterday, but it's different when you're sitting somewhere else, no net, no mail, no JIRA and no access to the SVN, just Axis2!
So, to extend the code/car analogy a little bit more, yesterday to me was like a day spent discussing the internals of the McLaren F1 with Gordon Murray! Well, OK, that's stretching it a bit, (besides, I don't think Murray had much to do with the F1's engine itself [which was almost a Honda - Dammit] AND I've never actually seen an F1, let alone driven one) but it was a good day and one that I had been looking forward to for quite some time now!
Oh yes, to explain my regret that the Honda Motor Company didn't take up Mr. Murray's request when the F1 was being designed, I've been using a Civic since last December and am loving it. It's a 1.5 L, as opposed to the 1.8 of the Scooby, but it's Dual Carb, so just 3 BHP short of the Legacy's 103. Not as much torque (was used to 145 N*m and this has just 125), but it's lighter and revvs up pretty quick, so it nippy and fun AND does MUCH better on petrol, which is the most important thing next to fun. Oh yes, it's still just as safe - mustn't forget safety, being a mature and responsible father of two ;-).
I'm reading "Howl's moving castle" these days, the book Miyazaki's amazing movie (which actually got me started on his Anime) is based on. I bought it to read to/with Navindee, but she's more interested in watching any one of the many instances of 'Beautiful Princess rescued by Handsome Prince' class, made available now on DVD by all the toy manufacturers! I decided she can read it herself when she sees the light someday, and went ahead alone, putting 'Foundation's Edge' aside for now!
I have always been grateful to object orientation for allowing me to work with interfaces while having no idea what happens inside, much like I can enjoy a drive without knowing the internals of the combustion engine, but it's fun to learn what actually makes it tick! I suppose could have always walked across to Deepal's seat at any time in the last few months and just asked him any of the stuff I learned yesterday, but it's different when you're sitting somewhere else, no net, no mail, no JIRA and no access to the SVN, just Axis2!
So, to extend the code/car analogy a little bit more, yesterday to me was like a day spent discussing the internals of the McLaren F1 with Gordon Murray! Well, OK, that's stretching it a bit, (besides, I don't think Murray had much to do with the F1's engine itself [which was almost a Honda - Dammit] AND I've never actually seen an F1, let alone driven one) but it was a good day and one that I had been looking forward to for quite some time now!
Oh yes, to explain my regret that the Honda Motor Company didn't take up Mr. Murray's request when the F1 was being designed, I've been using a Civic since last December and am loving it. It's a 1.5 L, as opposed to the 1.8 of the Scooby, but it's Dual Carb, so just 3 BHP short of the Legacy's 103. Not as much torque (was used to 145 N*m and this has just 125), but it's lighter and revvs up pretty quick, so it nippy and fun AND does MUCH better on petrol, which is the most important thing next to fun. Oh yes, it's still just as safe - mustn't forget safety, being a mature and responsible father of two ;-).
I'm reading "Howl's moving castle" these days, the book Miyazaki's amazing movie (which actually got me started on his Anime) is based on. I bought it to read to/with Navindee, but she's more interested in watching any one of the many instances of 'Beautiful Princess rescued by Handsome Prince' class, made available now on DVD by all the toy manufacturers! I decided she can read it herself when she sees the light someday, and went ahead alone, putting 'Foundation's Edge' aside for now!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Artist edition?
If you've never been too good with a paint, clay, marble and other traditional tools of the artist, or found they were too expensive and still lacked basic features like 'Undo' and 'Replace all', we have a solution for you - our Mashup Server!
Yes, mashups are now ART, because the Museum of Modern Art included some in this exhibition. Good thing we're making the server 'skinnable' for the next release; maybe in addition to the 'professional' UI out of the box and the 'fun' UI that we did for the community site, we can put together a stylesheet with psychedelic colours for the people out there who don't really care for service composition, but do like to create pretty pictures!
Jonathan, the artist who drew up the initial sketch for the Mashup Server did a demo at TechEd a couple of days back and has blogged about it. Though this demo didn't actually highlight the Mashup Server, but featured WSAS which is at it's core instead, the Mashup team grabbed front row seats to watch the webcast on our cool new HD projection system!
Yes, mashups are now ART, because the Museum of Modern Art included some in this exhibition. Good thing we're making the server 'skinnable' for the next release; maybe in addition to the 'professional' UI out of the box and the 'fun' UI that we did for the community site, we can put together a stylesheet with psychedelic colours for the people out there who don't really care for service composition, but do like to create pretty pictures!
Jonathan, the artist who drew up the initial sketch for the Mashup Server did a demo at TechEd a couple of days back and has blogged about it. Though this demo didn't actually highlight the Mashup Server, but featured WSAS which is at it's core instead, the Mashup team grabbed front row seats to watch the webcast on our cool new HD projection system!
Monday, May 12, 2008
From the Creator of the TomatoTube!
Another Oscar worthy performance from the WSO2 Mashup Server under the able hands of director Tyrell Perera, the TwitterMap is definitely a strong contender for this years title!
Written and produced in under 6 hours, this Mashup brings entertainment, live action and maps to a computer screen near you!
For tonight only ladies and gentlemen, step right up if you want to create the next blockbuster and would like to be introduced to our star!
Written and produced in under 6 hours, this Mashup brings entertainment, live action and maps to a computer screen near you!
For tonight only ladies and gentlemen, step right up if you want to create the next blockbuster and would like to be introduced to our star!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Free as in Webinar
If you've been meaning to read up on what Mashups are and what they can do for you, have information available as web services, feed and pages and want a way to put it all together in more useful ways or simply love JavaScript and would like to use it for more than just building web pages, I'm about to tell you how you can learn everything you want to know and for free!
Jonathan Marsh, our Director of Mashup Technologies is running a webinar on the 13th of May and all you have to do is register yourself as a participant. Since it's free, just like our Mashup Server, you have the opportunity to learn what Mashups can do for you, try creating a mashup or two on our community site and then download and install a server on your local system once you get serious.
Of course you could take the other approach; download and try out the server first and learn how to do things better at the webinar! Since the product is pretty easy to install and writing a 'Hello World' Mashup takes just two clicks, this would be a better approach if you can spare some time up front.
Oh yes, if you do need more reasons why you should attend the webinar and learn about our server, Jonathan's also blogged about the Gartner 'Cool' report that I mentioned in my last post, as have Keith, Glen and Daniel.
See you next Tuesday!
Jonathan Marsh, our Director of Mashup Technologies is running a webinar on the 13th of May and all you have to do is register yourself as a participant. Since it's free, just like our Mashup Server, you have the opportunity to learn what Mashups can do for you, try creating a mashup or two on our community site and then download and install a server on your local system once you get serious.
Of course you could take the other approach; download and try out the server first and learn how to do things better at the webinar! Since the product is pretty easy to install and writing a 'Hello World' Mashup takes just two clicks, this would be a better approach if you can spare some time up front.
Oh yes, if you do need more reasons why you should attend the webinar and learn about our server, Jonathan's also blogged about the Gartner 'Cool' report that I mentioned in my last post, as have Keith, Glen and Daniel.
See you next Tuesday!
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Certified Cool!
Yes, we are officially cool! I've been telling everybody that WSO2 is cool and so is our Mashup Server, but if you don't want to just take my word for it, Gartner's report on Cool Vendors in Web Technologies, 2008 lists WSO2 as one and feels the Mashup Server may be our most interesting offering!
You can read Sanjiva's blog and Paul's for more details, but I'm afraid if you want to read the full text, you'll have to buy the report or get a subscription!
You can read Sanjiva's blog and Paul's for more details, but I'm afraid if you want to read the full text, you'll have to buy the report or get a subscription!
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