Summary
SOAP, RMI, CORBA, RPC, Middleware, yadda, yadda, yadda. I'd rather use a socket.

I was on a conference panel recently. Someone in the audience asked a question about the future of SOAP and other similar messaging middlewares. The panelists all answered in various interesting ways. When it was my turn I just said: "I'd rather use a socket." To my surprise I got a polite sprinkling of applause in response.

I think we have gotten framework happy. If a framework exists we feel honor bound to use it. We are like the construction workers in Don Adam's "Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy" who were building a bypass through Arthur Dent's house. When he asked them why they were building it they said: "You've got to build bypasses."

I think the industry should join frameworks anonymous and swear off gratuitous framework adoption. We should all start using sockets and flat files instead of huge middleware and enormous databases -- at least for those applications where the frameworks and databases aren't obviously necessary.

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About the Blogger

Robert C. Martin (Uncle Bob) has been a software professional since 1970 and an international software consultant since 1990. He is founder and president of Object Mentor Inc., a team of experienced consultants who mentor their clients worldwide in the fields of C++, Java, OO, Patterns, UML, Agile Methodologies, and Extreme Programming. In 1995 Robert authored the best-selling book: Designing Object Oriented C++ Applications using the Booch Method, published by Prentice Hall. From 1996 to 1999 he was the editor-in-chief of the C++ Report. In 1997 he was chief editor of the book: Pattern Languages of Program Design 3, published by Addison Wesley. In 1999 he was the editor of "More C++ Gems" published by Cambridge Press. He is co-author, with James Newkirk, of "XP in Practice", Addision Wesley, 2001. In 2002 he wrote the long awaited "Agile Software Development: Principles, Patterns, and Practices", Prentice Hall, 2002. He has published many dozens of articles in various trade journals, and is a regular speaker at international conferences and trade shows.