Re: [soa-rm] Changes to "What is a Reference Model"

[Duane Nickull <dnickull@adobe.com>]

This is actually not specific to SOA systems and is intended to be a stop
gap to define "Reference Model" until the Wikipedia page that should do such
gets built.  The motivation is to help people understand the abstract nature
and use of the RM.  Points well taken however.

How about:


"A Reference Model is an abstract artifact for documenting patterns and
significant relationships among the entities of an environment. It is used
to guide architects in the development of specific reference or concrete
architectures.  It also facilitates the creation of consistent standards or
specifications supporting that environment. A reference model consists of a
minimal set of unifying concepts, axioms and relationships within a domain,
and is abstract (independent of specific standards, technologies,
implementations, or other concrete details). The Reference Model for SOA is
the set of concepts and patterns for understanding significant relationships
among the entities within a SOA environment."

The last sentence is purely an example.

Duane


On 9/21/06 2:52 PM, "Michael Stiefel" <development@reliablesoftware.com>
wrote:

> +1
> 
> Michael
> 
> At 05:48 PM 9/21/2006, Danny Thornton wrote:
>> Where is the boundary between pattern and concept?
>> When putting together SOA systems, I do not think of
>> the SOA RM as a set of patterns that I would use for
>> constructing an enterprise system.  I do think of the
>> SOA RM as a set of concepts that help in understanding
>> a SOA.  From a formal software perspective, I would
>> not be inclined to use "pattern" in this part of the
>> introduction.  On the other hand, it is not a false
>> statement to say that the SOA RM contains patterns
>> that will be seen in SOAs.
>> 
>> Danny
>> 
>> --- Duane Nickull <dnickull@adobe.com> wrote:
>> 
>>> Replace:
>>> 
>>> "According to the SOA-RM specification, a reference
>>> model is an abstract
>>> framework for understanding significant
>>> relationships among the entities of
>>> some environment. It enables the development of
>>> specific reference or
>>> concrete architectures using consistent standards or
>>> specifications
>>> supporting that environment. A reference model
>>> consists of a minimal set of
>>> unifying concepts, axioms and relationships within a
>>> particular problem
>>> domain, and is independent of specific standards,
>>> technologies,
>>> implementations, or other concrete details. A
>>> reference model for SOA,
>>> therefore, is an abstract framework for
>>> understanding significant
>>> relationships among the entities of SOA."
>>> 
>>> With
>>> 
>>> "A Reference Model is an abstract artifact for
>>> documenting patterns and
>>> significant relationships among the entities of an
>>> environment. It is used
>>> to guide architects in the development of specific
>>> reference or concrete
>>> architectures using the model as a template or
>>> pattern.  It also facilitates
>>> the creation of consistent standards or
>>> specifications supporting that
>>> environment. A reference model consists of a minimal
>>> set of unifying
>>> concepts, axioms and relationships within a domain,
>>> and is abstract
>>> (independent of specific standards, technologies,
>>> implementations, or other
>>> concrete details). The Reference Model for SOA is a
>>> set of patterns for
>>> understanding significant relationships among the
>>> entities within a SOA
>>> environment."
>>> 
>>> Comments?
>>> 
>>> Duane
>>> 
>>> 
>>> --
>>> 
>> ******************************************************
>>> Sr. Technical Evangelist - Adobe Systems, Inc.
>>> *
>>> Chair - OASIS SOA Reference Model Technical
>>> Committee*
>>> Blog: http://technoracle.blogspot.com
>>> *
>>> 
>> ******************************************************
>>> 
>>> 
>> 
>> 
>> __________________________________________________
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> 
> 
> 

-- 
******************************************************
Sr. Technical Evangelist - Adobe Systems, Inc.       *
Chair - OASIS SOA Reference Model Technical Committee*
Blog: http://technoracle.blogspot.com                *
******************************************************