For some time now I've been following Steve Vinoski's blog. In case you're wondering he's one of the best authorities on distributed computing. (You can read more about him here)
His last post really amused me :) It's entitled Just What We Need: Another RPC Package. He talks about the upcoming release of a new client/server messaging system by Cisco. Simply he asks "Why? Do we really need yet another client/server messaging system?".
He's right! Think about this: how many messaging systems do we have? How many succeeded? Why are we inventing the wheel over and over? The answer is simple: everyone wants a piece of the pie! And that piece is money! For me this is one of the main reasons why the computer industry is so far behind of other major industries, like construction, aeronautic or even the mechanical:
- In the computer industry we don't have an outside impartial entity that monitors the software quality. In construction and aeronautic we do.
- In the computer industry everyone who wants to, can write a piece of software (call it the best of the world) and sell it. In the other industries we have to be certified in order to construct a building or an airplane.
- In the computer industry there are dozens and dozens of patterns and standards. But, no one monitors if the standard or the pattern is well applied. Do you see this happening in other industries?
I bet that sooner or later our industry will have to follow the other industries. Their behavior is proven to be the right one.
Food for thought...
Until next time ;)