SOA is about flexibility, which means the ability to be changed after being built.
Many people compare SOA building blocks (services) with LEGO blocks when evangelizing the concept to the nitwits. See Google, or this blog of Joe McKendrick. Or this one of Jason Bloomberg.
Well, let's try out the analogy. First start building a nice fortress with LEGO blocks. Then after you finished it, just change one little LEGO block somewhere in the middle of the wall. You won't be very happy, I suppose. Not to mention creating a new window or a door. And, o my dear, make the cellar a few feet deeper.
LEGO constructs are easy to be built, but a nightmare to be changed and so have nothing to do with flexibility.
Business people never seem to understand the IT-folks; I know why... do you?
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
SOA and LEGO, do you dare to compare?
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4 comments:
You are right, James, I pushed it to the limit. What I wanted to stress is that the focus tends to be highly on the connectors (web services technology)and hardly on the functional tight coupling, which limits flexibility. So, after all the analogy with LEGO isn't that bad at all... ;-)
I've linked to your post. I think the point you made was a good one and it was well put. Check out my post in http://soaevolution.blogspot.com/.
I notice the link to the post was automatically discovered below.
I often use the Lego analogy with non technical stakeholders to provide them an example of interoperability and re-usability. Your comments around adding another window or deepening the cellar does not hold up. Lego constructs can be desconstructed and reconstructed without damaging the whole, something that SOA also strives to achieve.
Hi anonymous.
Ik think SOA is about flexible change, not about reconstruct.
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