Middleware Selection

Abstract

An increasing variety of middleware systems is available for use in enterprises today. Two widely used but very different middleware styles are object-oriented and message-oriented. Within each of these styles, there are multiple products to choose from. Moreover, any of these products may be used alone or in com- bination with other products. Thus the problem of middleware selection is in- creasingly important in the engineering of enterprise software systems.

Middleware selection, construed broadly, is the determination of middleware to be used in a software development or integration project. The middleware may already exist, in which case selection reflects an intention to acquire it, or the middleware may not yet exist, in which case selection implies an intention to develop it.