I think it may be useful at this point to take stock of where we
stand. From what I can tell, it seems to me that we all want an
architecture which component based (which probably means object
oriented) and language neutral. There is, however, some disagreement, or
at least some skepticism, about how best to achieve these goals. I fear
that our points of agreement here have a tendency to be lost as a
result.
To be clear about where I stand: I believe we need to think about
encapsulating existing systems or components of existing systems in a
language neutral manner, and I believe we would do well to focus on
defining interface models rather than on the underlying technology, and
that's one reason why I suggested we would do well to start at the UML
level (though even here I have some doubts). But, having said that, I
think it is equally important that our model not become a straitjacket
that will unnecessarily constrain existing systems. We need a flexible
model, one that leaves room for individual systems to grow and
evolve. Now, what about CORBA? I suspect I have come across as something
of a CORBA detractor. Such is not the case. I am still somewhat skeptical
about CORBA, but I am hopeful! I do think object oriented technology is
the way to go, and I do think language independence and a distributed
architecture are important. I simply do not yet feel that I am in a
position where I could recommend a CORBA based solution, but that means I
still have questions, it does not mean I have rejected CORBA! In fact,
quite the opposite is true. Experience with VistA has already shown the
value of creating (Delphi) components which provide a software interface
to VistA. Unfortunately, this solution is not yet technology independent,
but as Greg Kreis has pointed out, FixIt does provide some important steps
in this direction. I would like to see a system in which patient records
could be stored in Fileman, Oracle, mSQL, or any a number of other
products, but other parts of the system would not know or care what the
underlying technology was. I would, however, want these interfaces to
provide sufficient flexibility to allow us to use the full power of these
applications. I've seen proposals that only work by "dumbing
down" existing systems until we reach a least common denominator, and, in
my view, this is simply not acceptable.
---
Gregory Woodhouse
[EMAIL PROTECTED] / http://www.wnetc.com/home.html
"An atheist staring from his attic window is often nearer to God than the
believer caught up in his own false image of God."
--Martin Buber
