On the Shoulders of Giants

Going through my SOA Governance white paper once more, I suddenly realised how many concepts and frameworks I was able to leverage in the process of proposing a "new" approach.

I'm reminded once more that even an "innovative" and unprecedented idea has to rest on prior ideas from other people. It's only proper that I formally acknowledge my debt to the following people and organisations:

• The BAIT Model: I think this came from the Meta Group, but I'm not sure. It's now such an established part of architectural scripture that its exact origins are now the stuff of legend. Anyway, whoever thought this up, thanks!
• TOGAF: The very name says it all - The Open Group Architecture Framework. My heartfelt thanks to The Open Group.
• Domain-Driven Design (DDD): I've always been impressed by Eric Evans's approach, and I'm glad I could build something on top of his work.
• Cohesion and Coupling: An oldie but a goldie. Stevens, Meyers and Constantine are to be heartily commended for what is perhaps the cornerstone of architectural analysis. If an architect understands no other concept, they should at least try and master the concepts of cohesion and coupling.
• Data on the Outside vs Data on the Inside: Pat Helland of Microsoft (at the time he wrote it) gets a much-deserved doff of the hat for this contribution. It's such a crucial piece of insight that it's amazing more people don't get it (Hey, you there using that outrage called Hibernate's "detached entities", I'm talking to you!)

In turn of course, I'm happy to offer the SOA Governance and SOA Management approach that I described to other practitioners to build upon further.

A Sanskrit verse comes to mind:

Na Chora Haaryam Na Cha Raja Haaryam,
Na Bhraturbhajyam Na Cha Bhaarakaari
Vyaye Krute Vardhta Eva Nityam,
Vidyaa Dhanam Sarva Dhanam Pradhaanam.

(No thief can steal it, neither can a king or government.
Siblings cannot ask for a share, and it's never a burden to carry.
It only increases when you spend it.
The wealth of Knowledge is the foremost of all wealth.)