.NET: architecture and implications
Wonderware
CTO Rashesh Mody considers the implications of the new architecture
now emerging from Microsoft
The fundamental
idea behind Microsoft's .NET initiative is that the focus is shifting
from individual web sites, or devices connected to the Internet,
to 'constellations' of computers, devices and services that work
together to deliver broader, richer solutions. The intent is to
give users control over how, when and what information is delivered
to them. Computers, devices and services will be able to collaborate
with each other to provide rich services, instead of being isolated
islands where the user provides the only integration.
.NET is intended
to help drive a transformation in the internet that will see HTML-based
presentation augmented by programmable XML-based information. XML,
the eXtensible Markup Language, is a widely supported industry standard
defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the same organisation
that created the standards for the web browser. XML provides a means
of separating actual data from the presentational view of that data.
It is key to providing: a way to unlock information so that it can
be organised, programmed and edited; a way to distribute data in
more useful ways to a variety of digital devices; and means of allowing
web sites to collaborate and provide a constellation of web services
that will be able to interact with each another.
This is a major
evolutionary change in computing for the 'Wintel' architecture,
since the Windows operating system isn't optimised for thin client
computing. It embodies the thick client model, with all software
on every PC. This architecture is based on Microsoft's common object
model (COM), which isn't inherently a distributed architecture.
COM presents scalability issues and even the distributed COM (or
DCOM) is an afterthought. It's too complex for mobile or embedded
computing and it's not lightweight enough for use with Windows CE,
the Microsoft platform for handheld computers.
Significant
move .NET is Microsoft's answer to a number of challenges and could
even be as significant as the move from DOS to Windows. .NET will
fundamentally change the way computers and users interact. It's
intended to bring employees, customers, data and business applications
into a coherent and intelligently interactive whole, so that business
can benefit from radically increased efficiency and productivity.
On a practical
basis, this means that previously complex tasks such as moving a
purchase order from customer A to vendor B will be able to:
- Employ a
common language for messages
- Use a common
message content structure
- Have the
ability to send and receive messages easily, and
- Have the
ability to process messages within the context of business processes
Users will
be able to do all this while using completely different computer
systems. A new development environment will support all current
mainstream languages and new languages that are developed in the
future. Problems associated with different data types between languages
will at last be eliminated: a string is a string and a long is a
long, no matter what the language. User applications will have consistent
access to data and will be able to pass data consistently between
components. Applications can now be written in a mix of languages
which will work together in ways that have never been possible before.
| VB |
C++ |
C# |
JScript |
... |
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Common
Language Specification
|
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Web
Services
|
User
Interface
|
|
|
Data
& XML
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Base
Classes
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Common
Language Runtime
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For Wonderware
specifically, and automation users in general, some of the .NET
technologies are already available and being implemented now. Wonderware
will absorb most of the pain for automation users by bringing the
full .NET environment to bear on industrial applications step by
step - moving from today's thin client architecture to the all-new
FactorySuite NG (Next Generation) product in 2002. Wonderware's
strategy is based on using .NET to provide data anytime, anywhere
and in any format that's needed.
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