Concept and Project Objectives
Following the Web 2.0 phenomenon, we envisage that the front-end layer in the next generation SOA will rely on the existence of REST resources (gadgets) that will provide the user interface for back-end services. End-users without programming and/or IT skills will be able to create applications and configure their own operational environment, in a self-service fashion, using resources available on the Internet, using Mashup, piping and tagging, for example.
The main objective of the project is to create a new visual programming environment that will facilitate the development of complex front-end gadgets, involving execution of relatively complex business processes that rely on back-end Semantic Web Services. A user-centric approach will be adopted rather than a program-centric approach: Instead of first building programs that orchestrate available semantic Web services then trying to figure out how to implement interaction with the users at given points of the process execution flow, programmers will start from the front-end gadgets that the user will see and interact with, and then visually establish connections to back-end Web Services, going through process execution flows if necessary. Programmers will visually establish connections following a similar approach to UML diagrams.
The FAST project believes that this new user-oriented approach is not only feasible, but that it will also reduce limitations of approaches of current business process engines. Using the FAST project approach will allow programmers to visually manage and connect front-end gadgets, screen-flow resources (resources implementing reusable pieces of sequence diagrams) and back-end services.
It is important to mention that the programming tool will be developed to be compatible with both existing and future Mashup platforms. Our aim is not to develop the gadget Mashup platform itself, but rather a tool that enables the development of Mashup-able gadgets that rely on screen-flow resources and Semantic Web Services stored in a catalogue.
To a certain extent, the FAST project approach mimics the storyboard approach, used when filming movies; use cases and user needs are visually presented in a series of abstract windows (or screens) and the final application is composed automatically by automatically providing the storyboard with data, resources and functionality from the back-end.
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