Interoperability Flashcards
Interoperability
ability of 2 application systems to exchange information with each other and to use the information that has been exchanged (Winter).
Adaptable software, name 5 with 1 most adaptable and 5 less adaptable
- Legacy software
- Packaged software (COTS)
- Open standards (e.g. HL7 FHIR)
- Open-source
- bespoke: in-house of outsourced
Approaches to interoperability (combination is possible):
- information-oriented approach
- business process integration-oriented approach
- Service-oriented approach (SOA)
- portal-oriented approach
Information-oriented approach =
exchange of simple information
information-oriented approach, advantages:
Few or no changes to systems involved
Does not require managing state, logic and sequence
Straightforward and widely used
APIs =
set of functions and procedures that specify how software components should interact
business process integration-oriented approach, goal:
single model spanning many applications and data stores which “controls” how systems and humans interact
Service-oriented approach (SOA)
provides services instead of information –> loose coupling
service-oriented approach (SOA), definition:
software architecture for building applications that implement business processes or services by using a set of loosely coupled black-box components orchestrated to deliver a well-defined level of service. (one of the many definitions)
features of service-oriented approach (SOA):
- is for building business applications
- is a black-box component architecture
- component is a service
- components are loosely coupled
- components are orchestrated to link together through business processes to deliver a well-defined level of service
loose coupling =
a long-standing IT term meaning that the internals of an application or business service must be able to change without impacting client applications. Specifically, a service consumer should not be required to know any more about service than what is contained in the published contract
What enables SOA (service-oriented approach)
- Services
- Service providers
- Service consumers
- service registries
- service messaging
service providers =
provide a service that preforms some business function at the request of the service consumer.
service consumers =
developers do not have to design, build or test services; they just use them to accomplish business functions
service registries =
provide a mechanism for storing. Managing and accessing service contracts.
disadvantages of portal-oriented approach:
Non automatic information flow between application
advantages of portal-oriented approach:
Noninvasive
Easier
Faster to realize
middleware =
any type of software that facilitates communication between 2 or more software systems.
types of middleware:
- Remote procedure call (RPC)
- Message-oriented middleware (MOM)
- Distributed objects (r.i.p.)
- Database-oriented
- TP Monitors/transaction-oriented (not dead yet…)
- Application servers
Remote procedure call (RPC) =
procedure call over network; network hidden for programmer
advantages of remote procedure call (RPC):
- Easy to use
disadvantages of remote procedure call (RPC):
- Synchronous only
- Language dependent
- Requires much c/s communication
Message-oriented middleware (MOM) =
like RCP, but asynchronous: messages are queued
advantages of message-oriented middleware (MOM):
- Less bandwidth required
- Other party may be down
- Logging
disadvantages of message-oriented middleware (MOM):
- Still requires major changes in applications
Distributed objects =
adds object-orientation to RCP
advantages of distributed objects:
- Well-defined standards; includes possibilities for asynchronous calls, transactions
disadvantages/difficulties of distributed objects:
- Not widely used
database-oriented =
facilitates communication with databases
transaction criteria of TP Monitors/transaction-oriented:
- Atomicity
- Consistency
- Isolation
- Durability
(ACID)
application servers =
container for web applications
role of XML:
- provides common data-exchange format
advantages of XML:
o Everybody supports XML (yet in different ways)
o Many, many XML-based standards
o Includes middleware vendors (? Or disadvantages??)
disadvantages of XML:
o Not memory efficient
JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) =
a light-weight alternative to XML for data-exchange
advantages of JSON:
o Language independent
o Most programming languages can easily read it and instantiate objects or some other data structure
