Open Enterprise Trends

A number of enterprise devs had pushed Python’s state-of-the-art in the last few weeks. Notably, Python has a new patch for a particularly sneaky security vulnerability, better support for new logging modules and even an upgraded documentation tool and programmers’ editor.

In this Python wrap, OET provides devs a quick tour, links for code downloads, FAQs and forums.

Security — A buffer overflow in python 2.2’s getaddrinfo() function was discovered earlier this week by Sebastian Schmidt. If python 2.2 is built without IPv6 support, an attacker could configure their name server to let a hostname resolve to a special IPv6 address, which could contain a memory address where shellcode is placed. This problem does not affect python versions prior to 2.2 or versions 2.2.2+, and it also doesn’t exist if IPv6 support is enabled. . Python with the patch is available here. For more background on the problem, go to theMandrakeSoft Security Advisory

Continue reading “Driving Enterprise Python – Patches, Plug-ins, Outlines”

Templating has been gaining in popularity for years among web developers, especially those working on portals or business sites that may have their web pages tied in with complex business rules. Now those same benefits from templating are coming to PHP. This article, originally appearing at DotGeek.org, looks at Smarty, one of the leading PHP templating engines available.

Benefits of PHP Templating
Web design and programming are closely related and yet are very different. Designers speak in such languages as HTML and CSS, and programmers are often heard speaking in the tongues of PHP and SQL. Design focuses primarily on presentation logic, and programming focuses primarily upon business logic. Separating these processes in web development cycles helps to achieve rapid application development goals while providing for website maintainability.

Continue reading “Tips To Using PHP Templates: Inside Smarty”

James Gosling, the renowned creator of Java, now has a new job at Sun: CTO of the Sun Developer Platform. In that role, he gave his first formal briefing to reporters, noting that the push by the Java Tools Committee to create a unified set of APIs for Java tools vendors could take a year or more.

When asked if Java IDEs might align their APIs by next January (2005), Gosling said, “I doubt we’ll have all the work done by next year at this time, but we should have a good road map for what needs to be done…A lot will depend on the consensus. Some of that will be technical and some of that will be political.” Gosling expects some heady issues will affect the timetable, and the outcome, of the push for a common API set for Java IDEs, including UI integration, metadata support and workflow issues — all currently under discussion at the Java Community Process.

Continue reading “Gosling: Unified Java Tool APIs May Take a Year”

Last month, Geekcruises’ Linux Lunacy cruise to Alaska proved that Linux and Open Source are hot enough topics to even warm up Northern waters. The feature of the trip was a candid Q&A; with Linux creator Linus Torvalds. Courtesy of GeekCruises Capt. Neil Bauman and Senior Editor of Linux Journal Doc Searles, OET brings our readers an extended transcript of Linus’ shipboard Q&A;, where he responds to Linux dev questions on the future of Linux, including the status of Linux 2.6, impacts from increasing corporate (and vendor) adoption, an ever-growing kernel, and even on the pending lawsuit from SCO.

Geekcruises Capt. Neil Bauman gets the ball rolling in our extended transcript.

Capt. Neil Bauman: In the last year or so, Linux has been embraced by a large number of established companies. You consider this a good thing, a bad thing? Are you happy? Sad?

Continue reading “Linus Fields Dev Questions On the Future of Linux”

Cocoon 2, part of the Apache XML Project, is a highly flexible web publishing framework built from reusable components. Although reusability is an oft-touted quality of software frameworks, Cocoon stands out because of the simplicity of the interface between the components. Cocoon 2 uses XML documents, via SAX, as its inter-component API. As long as a component accepts and emits XML, it works.

In this Open Enterprise Trends hands-on tutorial on Cocoon 2, developers will get a full package, including:

• (1) a well-versed Cocoon 2 overview,
• (2) simple examples (complete with schematics and figures) on the inner workings of XML and Cocoon;

Continue reading “Tutorial: Apache Cocoon 2 Makes XML Sharing Easy”

A growing number of commercial developers are discovering the merits of using PHP for important data sharing and integration projects. PHP is no longer limited to use on Apache Web servers or other Open Source code projects. It’s finding its way into the core toolkits of high-performance commercial developers.

Jason Sheets, team leader in the Hewlett-Packard LaserJet Firmware Development Laboratory, prefers PHP for Web-based technologies.

Why? Sheets says he prefers PHP because it does what he needs “to increase efficiency [and] accountability [and] decrease overhead with performance and usability in mind.” His first try with PHP — the automation of a cumbersome test-reporting procedure — was dramatically successful. His Web-based system slashed hours of daily manual work.

Continue reading “PHP Gaining Momentum Among Commercial Developers”

OASIS has taken on another massive project that could further define the role — and the architecture — of web services, this time in the B2B arena.

A new committee, called the OASIS Management Protocol Technical Committee, has set itself the task of defining a new inter-enterprise protocol that would enable developers and sysadmins to build, monitor and manage web services interactions between companies.

The scope of the project makes this protocol one of the most complicated ever, as committee members intend to empower the protocol to provide views and management controls to the entire life-cycle of a web services transaction or event. Topologically, this means the new protocol will need to provide views into network, application logic and even business logic elements of traffic. Committee members also intend to ensure the protocol supports more than one application model because the protocol is intended to support inter-enterprise (B2B) communications.

Continue reading “OASIS Explores Protocol To Manage B2B Web Services”

Open-source software now plays a crucial role in the majority of large information technology (IT) organizations. It’s not the role you’d think, though, from popular descriptions of Open Source. .

When leaders such as Hostway Corp. and Journyx, Inc. talk about their use of Python, they’re not talking about the virtues of low licensing cost, or waging an ideological battle against Microsoft. Python actually provides them a strategic advantage by providing them a low-cost, easy-to-deploy tool for helping enterprise software systems to talk with one another. In fact, rather than thumbing their nose at Microsoft, these companies use Python to maximize the value of their Windows applications.

Continue reading “Python Power: Growing Respect for an Open Source Integration Tool”

You may know Tcl, and think of it as one of those “toy languages” that teenagers can pick up in less than an hour and make little GUI programs, chat scripts, and primitive Web pages. But Tcl is also finding broadening appeal among enterprise developers facing complex and costly integration projects, as an “industrial strength application glue”.

In the article below, we’ll explain more about Tcl’s use as “industrial-strength application glue,” and show you just how Tcl is becoming a not-so-secret-weapon for developers working on integration projects at such high-profile sites as Oracle, IBM, Cisco, NASA, TiVo, America OnLine, and even the CIA.

We’ll also show you how Tcl can be used by a broad spectrum of developers. Whether you’re working with Java, C#, C++, XML, Fortran or even SQL, Tcl may be able to offer some options because it has been written — and expanded upon — to talk to all these environments already.

Continue reading “Hands-On: Using Tcl as Application Glue for the Enterprise”

The emerging use of Web services could drive some significant changes in the way Java Virtual Machines (JVMs) work, says Robert Berry, a distinguished engineer from IBM’s Hursley Park Java Technology Center.

Berry delivered the keynote address at this month’s Usenix Java Virtual Machine Symposium in San Francisco. He promptly set a futuristic tone by predicting the end of the age where JVMs can focus strictly on performance enhancements. The growing importance of Web services, Berry said, will call for JVMs to get smarter and more manageable.

Continue reading “Usenix Report: Web Services Pushing JVMs into a New Age”

With Apache 2.0 four months past its stable release, developers are beginning to brainstorm the next steps for Apache — including drafting up a “wish list” for Apache 3.0 features, and mapping out a timeline for the release of upgraded features.

As Apache Software Foundation Chairman Roy Fielding told Open Enterprise Trends, “I’m sure there are lots of things that individuals are working on. [But] none of us will come out and say, ‘Well, this is going to be in Apache 3.0.'”

Fielding, even as he insists it’s a bit too early for a full Apache 3.0 feature list, is beginning to agree with other ASF contributors on the merits of adding at least one new feature to Apache — support for asynchronous I/O.

Continue reading “Will Apache 3.0 Sport Asynchronous I/O?”

Open Source isn’t all about plotting the demise of Microsoft. In fact, it’s just the opposite. OETfound Successful projects work with the giants rather than cutting them off at the knees.

That’s only one of a number of surprising tips OET found when we conducted a series of interviews with the admins for the top Open Source projects on SourceForge to see what lessons these experts can offer to budding Open Source projects. Take a look at some other suggestions to help your project become the next hit.

Persistency Over Proprietary Solutions
Persistency challenged the Java Business Process Management (jBpm) project. J2EE’s built-in object relational mapper wasn’t powerful enough.

Continue reading “Success Tips from SourceForge’s Top Open Source Admins”

A growing number of IT managers are being pressured to transition from using the open standard ColdFusion Markup Language (CFML) to Java Server Pages (JSP) and servlets. In this article, we’ll look at why (and for what purposes) CFML, originally created by Macromedia, still excels over JSP.

One reason to leverage your CFML programmers? CFML may offer more features and performance than you might think. To put CFML into context for your enterprise development, first, let’s get our definitions straight.

CFML: Open Standard Language and Framework

Continue reading “Why Java Should Not Temper ColdFusionML Talents”

A strong coalition of Open Source community leaders, under the umbrella of the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP), has released a valuable, thought-provoking report for all web application projects (including web integration and web services).

The OWASP’s “Ten Most Critical Web Application Security Vulnerabilities” is a detailed look at some of the most likely areas where web applications (XML, web services, Java-based application server) might suffer from security problems.

OSCON Alert: OET wants to know if you or others in your firm are attending (Open Source Convention) in Portland, Ore. July 7-11. If you’ll be there, drop our editors a note to tell us what topic(s) you’re interested in, and if we can contact you about future stories looking at how devs are integrating Open Source into their web, Java, .NET and legacy systems. Email us at editor@oetrends.com. Thanks.

Continue reading “Top 10 Ways to Secure Open Source, Web Apps”