03-05-2020, 11:56 PM
What is middleware?
<!-- SC_OFF --><div class="md"><p>Seeing as middleware may become the next de-fi, might as well shed some light on the history of the term.</p> <p>The first commercially available middleware was IBM's CICS, although the term 'middleware' didn't exist back then. Before CICS mainframe programmers had to deal individually with the three core components of a business system, the terminals/screens, the business logic and the database. </p> <p>Access to the database was often the bottleneck in a system where COBOL programmers directly access the database from their code. CICS introduced a middle software system, it sat between the terminals/screens and business logic, and the business logic would ask CICS to talk to the database on its behalf. </p> <p>The first generic term used to describe CICS was a Transaction Processing Monitor (TPM). CICS's main role was to manage all the resources of the system and maximize the number of transactions that can be accomplished per unit of time. Transactions Per Second (TPS) became a common measure and soon other mainframe and mini computer manufacturers offered TPMs for their systems.</p> <p>It wasn't until AT&T developed TUXEDO (Transactions for UniX Extended for Distributed Operations) that the term middleware was coined. When BEA systems purchased TUXEDO they started to use the term extensively in their branding messages.</p> <p>Middleware allowed you to build a three tiered business system in the days prior to the advent of HTML & CSS. Tier 1 was the individual user's screens, either dumb terminals or PC's running terminal emulations. Tier two was the business logic managed by the middleware, tier 3 was the database. Most often tier 2 and tier 3 were physically separate systems.</p> <p>Once the Internet was going strong, the classic three tiered , TPM centric middleware lost relevance. Systems like Java App Servers or Ruby On Rails became the replacement for 'middleware' products. A lot of the functionality of middleware has been absorbed into the common stacks of the day, AWS for example. </p> <p>So now the term middleware is back and being applied to what Microsoft and E&Y are up to. I think it's a poor choice of terms, as it just reminds me of 'functionality previously paid for, now absorbed into that which is free', commoditization , etc. Put another way, I think the dream of staking coins and earning substantial staking fees is fading fast.</p> </div><!-- SC_ON --> Kind Regards R
<!-- SC_OFF --><div class="md"><p>Seeing as middleware may become the next de-fi, might as well shed some light on the history of the term.</p> <p>The first commercially available middleware was IBM's CICS, although the term 'middleware' didn't exist back then. Before CICS mainframe programmers had to deal individually with the three core components of a business system, the terminals/screens, the business logic and the database. </p> <p>Access to the database was often the bottleneck in a system where COBOL programmers directly access the database from their code. CICS introduced a middle software system, it sat between the terminals/screens and business logic, and the business logic would ask CICS to talk to the database on its behalf. </p> <p>The first generic term used to describe CICS was a Transaction Processing Monitor (TPM). CICS's main role was to manage all the resources of the system and maximize the number of transactions that can be accomplished per unit of time. Transactions Per Second (TPS) became a common measure and soon other mainframe and mini computer manufacturers offered TPMs for their systems.</p> <p>It wasn't until AT&T developed TUXEDO (Transactions for UniX Extended for Distributed Operations) that the term middleware was coined. When BEA systems purchased TUXEDO they started to use the term extensively in their branding messages.</p> <p>Middleware allowed you to build a three tiered business system in the days prior to the advent of HTML & CSS. Tier 1 was the individual user's screens, either dumb terminals or PC's running terminal emulations. Tier two was the business logic managed by the middleware, tier 3 was the database. Most often tier 2 and tier 3 were physically separate systems.</p> <p>Once the Internet was going strong, the classic three tiered , TPM centric middleware lost relevance. Systems like Java App Servers or Ruby On Rails became the replacement for 'middleware' products. A lot of the functionality of middleware has been absorbed into the common stacks of the day, AWS for example. </p> <p>So now the term middleware is back and being applied to what Microsoft and E&Y are up to. I think it's a poor choice of terms, as it just reminds me of 'functionality previously paid for, now absorbed into that which is free', commoditization , etc. Put another way, I think the dream of staking coins and earning substantial staking fees is fading fast.</p> </div><!-- SC_ON --> Kind Regards R