Using RUP for reengineering projects

The goal of a reengineering project is to restructure a legacy software system so that some of its quality attributes are improved. This restructuring could imply a change in the technological framework, such as a migration to an SOA framework. Whatever the technology, the reverse-engineering project should assess the feasibility of the restructuring. In fact, even if the target of the reverse-engineering is to remodel a system, it must also prototype the migration of some key component to the new architecture to check that it is possible.
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Windows Azure. The new cloud platform from Microsoft

Microsoft’s Windows Azure Platform is a cloud computing platform offering that “provides a wide range of Internet services that can be consumed from both on-premises environments or the Internet”. That’s what the official Azure’s website says. And we see that Microsoft is moving to cloud computing like Google Apps, Amazon, SalesForce and some other already does. Azure is a PaaS or “Platform as a Service” and it used to be free to use but now (starts from June 28 there is some additional charges for computing time, storage and data transferring).

Some words about cloud computing. Cloud computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software and information, are provided to computers and other devices on-demand, like the electricity grid. Cloud computing layers could describe this architecture the best and shows the difference from client-server (client – application server – server) architecture. Cloud computing layers are:

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.NET Framework review. Basic design features

In this entry will be described .NET Framework principal design features. Brief description to get quick overview of .NET basic design.

Portability
The design of the .NET Framework allows it to theoretically be platform agnostic, and thus cross-platform compatible. That is, a program written to use the framework should run without change on any type of system for which the framework is implemented. While Microsoft has never implemented the full framework on any system except Microsoft Windows, the framework is engineered to be platform agnostic, and cross-platform implementations are available for other operating systems (see Silverlight and the Alternative implementations section below). Microsoft submitted the specifications for the Common Language Infrastructure (which includes the core class libraries, Common Type System, and the Common Intermediate Language), the C# language, and the C++/CLI language to both ECMA (Ecma International is an international, private (membership-based) non-profit standards organization for information and communication systems) and the ISO (International Organization for Standardization), making them available as open standards. This makes it possible for third parties to create compatible implementations of the framework and its languages on other platforms.

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Is there an XP equivalent of RUP’s activities?

Yes there is, but XP’s “activities” are not formally identified or described. you’ll find it headed “Define requirements with stories, written on cards” and then throughout the chapter is a mixture of process description and guidance about what use stories are and how (and by whom) they should be produced. And so it goes on, as the books describe XP under major headings; “things done” and “things produced” are described with varying degrees of prescription and detail. RUP’s apparent prescription comes from its completeness and greater formality in its systematic treatment of activities, and their inputs and outputs. XP does not lack prescription, but perhaps in the attempt to remain “lightweight”, the formality and detail are simply omitted. The detail that is present in RUP will have to be added when XP is implemented on a project. Lack of specificity is not a strength or a weakness, but you should not confuse the lack of detailed information in XP with simplicity. At some point, the people on the project will need to know what to do and at that time will need the detail.
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