Archives


Risk and respect

IT may not draw more respect, but with the growing attention to regulatory compliance, IT folks -- and software firms, in particular -- may command more scrutiny than many have been accustomed to.

What are the vendors up to?

Most major software suppliers are waiting on the XQuery standard to be finalized before they ship any related products. An update from IBM, Oracle and some smaller vendors.

XQuery percolates

The still-developing standard for querying XML documents is garnering more support from vendors. But it will likely be a while before most shops have to deal with it directly.

Analysis: Oracle helmsman on a tear?

Oracle must deftly compete with IBM, SAP and Microsoft. But right now, Oracle head Larry Ellison’s touch is far from deft.

Books in Brief: Managing Software Requirements: A Use Case Approach

Update tackles the problem of defining software requirements by outlining six key phases in defining a software system’s requirements.

Oil and water

While SCM tools have improved, that does not mean that developers are any happier.

Toolmakers await “wireless revolution”

Vendors continue to support testing of wireless applications for the inevitable upswing in development.

SCM: Through the maze

Demands on software shops place hundreds of developers, scattered over multiple locations, together with a slew of code, revisions and patches. Software configuration management tools are changing to confront this labyrinth of complexity.

.NET & Beyond: One more time: What exactly is .NET?

Recent changes have left some believing that Microsoft’s technology strategies have changed or even that the company is de-emphasizing .NET -- and neither of these is true.

Perspective on XML: What is this ‘agility’?

The pitch on the buzzword “agility” is that software development can be more like a maneuverable motorcycle than a lumbering locomotive.

Analyst’s Soapbox: Is it lock-in or is it commitment?

Gary Barnett asks whether lock-in truly is the demon we all make it out to be or whether it is just a case of being afraid to tie the knot.

Reporter’s Notebook: Risk is real

It is quite possible that the notion of the real-time enterprise will confront the IT development manager with a risk-reward problem of the kind that can make or break a career.

5 stories about XML and integration

Users find value -- and challenge -- in the handy markup language that could.

Change, always change

As they become intrinsic to software development within the enterprise, software configuration management tools meet new capabilities.

Books in Brief: Web services from a business perspective: A review of “Web Services: A Manager’s Guide”

New book advises when to use Web services and when not to use Web services.

New ways to test packages

Off-the-shelf software has changed the world of application integration. Top tool suppliers are forging hooks to ease the pain and to set the stage for better integration testing across the board.

Q&A: Objects meet VB .NET

ADT’s Jack Vaughan spoke earlier this year with Deborah Kurata of InStep Technologies Inc. about the migration of Visual Basic developers to .NET.

When in the cycle does formal testing begin?

A recent survey by the Cutter Consortium finds that ‘generally speaking, testing starts late.’