Software Development Archives

27Jul 2021 by ab No Comments

Xsemble 3 – Multi-Tech Development

Architecture, Releases, Software Development

We are happy to announce the availability of Xsemble 3.0. It can be downloaded from the Get Started page. Xsemble 3 is a major release. It aims to shoot beyond the Java EE technology that it has been supporting from the beginning. Most of the changes in this major release revolve around this theme, apart from other improvements and bug fixes. In this blog post, we explain this main feature -- the multi-tech support. Multi-Tech Support Implementation Xsemble was created as a platform-neutral technology. It supported Java EE from the beginning. The depth of functionality provided was increased with every new release. Now with Xsemble 3, Xsemble grows sideways as well. It's been retrofitted to add support to other languages and frameworks. This support is demonstrated with one other technology,…

15Jul 2021 by ab No Comments

Component Coupling: What Prevents You from Achieving A Good Level of Isolation

Architecture, Software Development

Life is rewarding me with some tranquil moments, and they allow me to reflect on the thinking that went into creating Xsemble. The component isolation is a very important desirable but existing technologies cannot achieve that due to the implicit coupling that exists within the components. The way Xsemble addresses this concern has a lot to do about the unique concepts it has evolved. This is a 2 part article. In this first part, we see the problem and its repercussions, and then what benefits we could see if there were a way to address them. In the second part, we shall cover how Xsemble addresses it. The Problem: Component Coupling We use technologies that promised us modularity and componentization. However, at some level, the components are coupled with one…

10Apr 2021 by ab No Comments

How To Track Project Progress Visually with Enhanced PFD

Software Development

The Enhanced Software Development process can be visualized in terms of the Process Flow Diagram (PFD) as presented in our previous blog post. In this article, we show how one can use this PFD to track the progress of a project along this process. We also give you the template that you may use with your project(s). Example of a Project in Initial Stages We show below an example of a live project: Software Project Status With the legend in the bottom right corner, the visual is self-explanatory. It is the snapshot of the project activities on a given date. It shows that: 3 activities -- namely requirements analysis, wireframe design and the UI/UX design -- are marked complete by the person assigned to them. However, the output of only…

26Jan 2021 by ab 1 Comment

Microservices with Xsemble – part 2

Architecture, Software Development

This is the concluding part of a 2 part article on this subject. Part 1 started with the basic introduction and covered the high level reasons of creating microservices using Xsemble. With the example of the Demo8.Microservices application included with Xsemble, it showed how the end-to-end flow can be shown when all the microservices are implemented using Xsemble. In this part, we shall get into more details with the same example to focus on the interactions between microservices -- in particular we shall see two variants, as explained by Robert Witkowski: Monolith Frontend: The UI is implemented with one microservice and it makes API calls to other microservicesMicro Frontend: Each Microservice hosts its own UI We shall also see how Xsemble's component decoupling mechanisms intended for making components reusable could…

05Jan 2021 by ab 2 Comments

Microservices with Xsemble – part 1

Architecture, Software Development

Last updated: 26 Jan, 2021 When people hear for the first time that Xsemble enables building applications from smaller building blocks, they wonder if these blocks are microservices. Well, Xsemble components are much tinier than microservices, and can in turn be used for creating microservices. Further, the powerful capabilities built into Xsemble make it a great choice for creating microservices. This is a 2 part blog article to show how. We shall be referring to a demo application that is supplied with Xsemble version 2.5.2, namely "Demo8.Microservices". Microservices and Xsemble Components Microservices As we know, microservices is a way to achieve what is known as Z-axis scaling, a way to decompose a larger application based on business functions. These microservices are separate deployables which collaborate with one another using standard…

16Nov 2020 by ab 3 Comments

Enhanced Software Development Process with Xsemble

Software Development

Last updated: 9 Jan, 2021 After all the progress that has been made in developing software, one would expect that developing software should be a simple, step by step process. Like other engineering processes, the software development process also would have its checks and balances in place, and there would be a greater predictability and control. However, in practice it is hard, as the project failure statistics show (reference 1, reference 2, reference 3). Could it be because the project management is flawed in execution, or could it be because it is rendered less effective for software development because of some inherent issues with the software development process itself? As we shall see, due to the way software development process is carried out, project management is often blindfolded. Consider below…

01Sep 2020 by ab 1 Comment

Xsemble 2.4 Released

Releases, Software Development

Today we are happy to announce general availability of Xsemble release 2.4 -- build 2.4.0 to be precise. Xsemble 2.4 is an important milestone. As Xsemble grows in functionality, release 2.4 serves as the bridge between the old and the new. Many important changes have gone into the internal model, and those changes are more interesting and powerful than the feature enhancements. We recommend all projects using the previous version to move to 2.4 soon -- to get on to the new paradigms that are included. Migration is easy, and covered below. Feature Enhancements Here we cover a few major feature enhancements that have gone into 2.4.0. Progress Report, Kanban Chart We gave a boost to the Progress Report functionality. Since Xsemble breaks down the job of developing a larger…

08Jul 2020 by ab No Comments

Where ERPs Fail and How Xsemble Can Help

Software Development

S. Ketharaman's blog post "When ERP Projects Get Derailed by Silly Reasons" is an excellent read about where the world's leading ERP systems faced tough situations that they could not handle. He quotes Handelsblatt, “Altering existing COTS software like ERP / SAP is like changing a prefab house, You can put the kitchen cupboards in a different place but you can’t move the walls”. Introduction No doubt, ERPs are mammoth systems, and creating an ERP is not a simple affair. Firstly, it is because most ERPs aim to automate a large part of a firm's operation as opposed to a small part -- so the magnitude of the functionality itself is high. On top of it, there are differences among the ways companies run their operations, and ERPs need to cater…

18Mar 2020 by ab No Comments

How #Xsemble Supports #WorkFromHome

Software Development

The worldwide #COVID19 #CoronaVirus pandemic has made social distancing a need of the hour, to contain the spread. In that context, #WorkFromHome is a great solution. However, working from home (or just WFH) is attractive for other reasons too. In this post, we shall see how #Xsemble helps productivity in #WorkFromHome setup. Advantages of Working from Home Working from home (or just WFH) is a great idea for many reasons. The current virus pandemic necessitates it for social distancing. Apart from that, it has other benefits that stem from elimination of commute. For the employee: it saves the commute time and cost. The saved time may now be used productively. There may also be an added flexibility of work hours. Being there when children / elders in the family need…

24Jul 2019 by ab 2 Comments

Boeing 737 MAX and Getting Software Right

Software Development

Background On March 10 and then on October 29 last year, two Boeing 737 MAX aeroplanes crashed, killing hundreds of people. There were quite a few similarities between these two dreadful incidences, and they are clubbed together for that reason. As the aftermath, this new version of Boeing planes has been grounded, and the cause is being investigated. For further details into these incidences, check this, this or this. The software installed in the aircraft, MCAS, is an important player in the functioning of the aircraft, and it is being investigated whether it is the cause behind the incidents, among other factors. An essay suggests that the problem has many facets that go beyond software. Yet, a recent article focuses on the MAX software almost single-handedly. The title of the…