Middleware
Middleware is a critical type of software that acts as an intermediary, enabling communication and data exchange between different software applications and the operating system. It helps various applications installed on a computer or network to interact seamlessly, allowing older systems to work with newer technologies or enabling multiple applications to function together efficiently. Middleware can be categorized into enterprise middleware, which facilitates communication between business systems, and platform middleware, which allows different applications to communicate regardless of their underlying systems.
Common forms of middleware include application programming interfaces (APIs), data integration software, and game engines, each tailored for specific functionalities. For instance, the Android operating system employs middleware to streamline services like data storage, multimedia, and web browsing for its applications. Middleware enhances the efficiency of software development by providing a uniform interface, allowing engineers to focus on functionality rather than compatibility issues. It also supports complex networking by enabling applications to operate harmoniously, thus optimizing resource use and minimizing redundancy. Overall, middleware plays a vital role in modern computing by ensuring diverse applications can work together effectively across different environments.
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Subject Terms
Middleware
Middleware is a type of computer software that connects two other types of software in an interface. For example, middleware may allow a computer system to interact with the various applications installed on it. It may also allow older applications to interact with newer systems or various applications to communicate with one another in a stable framework.
Some software engineers divide middleware into two broad categories: enterprise middleware and platform middleware. Enterprise middleware allows business systems to communicate with one another. Platform middleware allows various applications to communicate with one another. Other common types of middleware include application programming interfaces (APIs), data integration software, and game engines. Each type of middleware is designed for a specific task.
Background
Software is a set of data, instructions, or programs used to operate a computer. While hardware is the physical machinery part of a computer, software is the data that tells the hardware how to function. It includes computer programs, applications, scripts, and any other type of coding run on a computer.
Many types of software run on a computer at once. The operating system is a complex network of software that allows the user to interact with the computer. It serves as a framework, connecting all the software on the computer and allowing it to interface with middleware and then with the hardware itself. Applications and computer programs are software packages designed for specific tasks. For example, word processing software allows people to compose text while Internet browsers enable users to go online. Drivers allow hardware to interface with the operating system, allowing computers to use specific parts as needed.
In the past, most software was packaged with the specific equipment on which it would run. As technology advanced, software packages came to be sold on portable storage devices, such as CD-ROMs and floppy disks. In the modern era, most software is downloaded through the Internet.
Software is created using programming languages. These are carefully arranged sets of instructions that the computer carries out. Since some functions are complex, programming languages have become increasingly advanced. However, all programming languages can be broken down into binary code. Binary code is the lowest level programming language and is constructed entirely of 1s and 0s.
Overview
Middleware is a type of software that translates data between an operating system and the applications on which it runs. Middleware allows applications to communicate with the operating system or other applications. Because middleware is typically unobtrusive, many computer users are unaware of the prominent role it plays in the function of a computer.
The term middleware was first used by software engineers during the 1968 NATO Software Engineering conference. At the time, computer engineers at the conference were attempting to define the field of software engineering. The development of middleware grew in importance as computer engineers began struggling to enable software and operating systems from different eras to function together. As middleware advanced, it included software designed to allow applications to communicate with one another.
Middleware serves a variety of functions for software engineers. It creates a uniform interface for application development. This allows the engineers to design applications that interface with a single type of middleware instead of a wide variety of systems. This speeds the application development process, allowing software engineers to spend more time developing their software’s functionality and less time working on its compatibility. It also allows various applications to work together, increasing efficiency by reducing redundancy. With middleware, a computer can ensure that multiple applications are not duplicating the same processes, using valuable computing power. Additionally, middleware allows software engineers to present a complex, disjointed network in a unified, organized way.
Middleware enables software to run more efficiently. For example, the Android operating system uses a Linux kernel. However, its software uses a middleware layer that provides services to applications. The middleware makes it easier for applications to interface with the device’s display, data storage, and networking capabilities.
Many software engineers divide middleware into two broad categories: enterprise middleware and platform middleware. Enterprise middleware allows software to interface with other enterprise applications. Enterprise applications are tools that allow businesses to improve productivity, such as billing systems and customer management systems.
Platform middleware connects different applications, allowing them to interface with one another. For example, if one software firm acquires another, it may wish to integrate the acquired company’s software into its own network. Middleware allows two types of software to interact with one another without heavily modifying either application.
Other software engineers break down middleware into more specific types, many of which apply to both platform middleware and enterprise middleware. Application programming interfaces (APIs) are toolsets for developing mobile applications that function on specific operating system. Application servers are large frameworks used to run a variety of applications on a single operating system.
Game engines are a form of middleware that is designed to allow one set of programming to interface with many parts of a computer at once. It manage scripting, networking, physics engines, and graphics across many types of hardware. Data integration software provides tools for the aggregation of data from many applications without directly integrating them.
Two of the most common types of middleware utilized today include message oriented middleware (MOM) and remote procedure call (RPC) middleware. MOM helps applications send and receive messages over a distributed network. It allows applications to communicate with one another regardless of the operating systems on which they run. MOM also ensures that no messages are misplaced by allowing for direct communication if the network nodes are busy. RPC middleware allows local programs to remotely request the services of another programs. This process is commonly used in online data transfers.
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