In-Depth Features


Book excerpt: The business case for accurate data

Most managers agree that data quality is important, but little is done about it at many sites; our expert offers tips for convincing management to invest in quality.

Two-headed analyst tour

While Inprise/Borland was a two-headed company that confused much of the software world, the original Borland name still stood for something.

Can Borland ride the life cycle?

Acquisitions fuel latest move to gain a foothold in enterprise IT with tools for each phase of the development life cycle; CEO promises the firm won’t forget developer roots this time.

Skeptical VB developers overcoming .NET challenges

Microsoft responds well to early concerns; experts say latest version provides strong competition to Java.

WSDL rolls along

A cornerstone of Web services, the WSDL spec continues to evolve; experts hope upcoming versions can bring it to a new level; a look at today’s WSDL tools.

Java environment focuses on up-front modeling

Compuware’s OptimalJ employs the so-called Model Driven Architecture (MDA) to generate working J2EE code from various descriptions.

Windows Server 2003 ships

Microsoft hopes release will field a stellar platform for integrating applications.

Microsoft resigns from W3C group

Microsoft officials withdraw from group due to a disagreement over the direction of the W3C debate.

Orchestration promise meets reality

Business process flows face mounting roadblocks as standards fights escalate; but emerging tools and business demands could force a resolution.

A sampling of business process flow software vendors

Business process flow software vendors and their wares.

Use Caching to Enhance Performance

Robust Web apps must provide fast response times. Learn how to use the Cache object to place commonly requested resources into an area in memory where they can be accessed quickly.

Dashboards come into view

Dashboards depicting time-series analysis allow managers to spot trends and, in turn, manage operations for ROI. Business intelligence benefits seem limited only by IT’s creativity.

Pepsi Bottling Group has a thirst for rich data

The Pepsi Bottling Group recently deployed a new system that enables its sales force to access route management information, real-time demand forecasting, inventory management, promotional info and authorized products from a handheld device.

Blueprinting Your Database Landscape

Crafting a map of your database servers can help you build better systems, from increased security to solid disaster-recovery plans. Take these steps to get your server network in order.

Book excerpt: Architectures for integration, extension

Developers look for an edge by integrating and extending systems; a look at the resulting business consequences.

J2EE and .NET servers weigh in

One or the other may hold an advantage here or there, but the divergence between the two prime app server platforms should not be oversold. Some say over time they are becoming more comparable.

Web Services Reflections: Q&A with Eric Newcomer

ADT's Jack Vaughan recently sat down with Iona CTO Eric Newcomer to discuss SOAP, CORBA and more.

Extending Eclipse

Want to know where to start to extend Eclipse? Dwight explains how to add a menu button to Eclipse's Workbench toolbar.

Smalltalk lives on at St. Paul

When St. Paul wanted to re-architect its fat-client, object-oriented Smalltalk application as a distributed system hosting a fully Web-enabled interface, it created Extended Policy writing Online (ExPO), a browser-based application that generates and issues quotes in real-time.

Objects keep track of County addresses

When Jefferson County, Colo., upgraded its County Address Management System (Cams), it decided to re-architect Cams in a component-based Java architecture running in a Linux environment.