Sean Rhody

Every now and then, I feel like two separate people. On one hand, I want to talk about services, pure and simple. I don't want to clutter it all up by discussing how to present the service to a user, or how to make it pretty, or how to make it cross platform. And yet, part of me ... (more)

Recently, I've been seeing some chatter around adding a programmatic aspect to Web services that is currently not part of the specifications - namely, adding object orientation (in particular inheritance, although I'm sure polymorphism is implied). I've thought about this, and I ... (more)

Rhody: Let's start with a high-level overview of WS-I and, if you can, highlight key members, new members, and what your broad mission statement is. Glover: As far as key members are concerned, I'd have to say every member is a key member. The mission statement is really easy. As ... (more)

One of the most frustrating things I've ever encountered in my life is trying to loosen a nut using a socket from the wrong measurement system. You know, I've got a metric nut, but an English socket set. So I find a socket that's close, but it's loose, and inevitably I end up str... (more)

(September 11, 2003) - Today marks the second anniversary of the destruction of the World Trade Center, and the attack on the Pentagon and the heroics over that field in Pennsylvania. Last year I wrote a column about what it was like that day, two years ago, to watch in horror as... (more)

In the battle over application servers, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that the battle is over. The bad news is that everybody lost. And by that I mean something a little different from what you might think. Application servers are no longer a hot property. Yes,... (more)

This past August, I celebrated a major milestone - 10 years in the publishing business. Over the last decade, I've had the opportunity to participate in, and in some cases, even anticipate major technology changes. First with client/server, then with the Internet and Java, and no... (more)

Since PowerBuilder Developer's Journal is now in its 10th year of publication, we asked a couple of old friends to share their thoughts and memories about the magazine. Sean Rhody, the former editor-in-chief of PBDJ, and Joe Celko, the former SQL Corner columnist, talk about thei... (more)

When I first graduated (well, actually, the second time) I had an offer from a company for a programming job. They were going to hire me, contingent upon my passing the IBM Programmer's Aptitude Test. So one day I drove my college junk heap an hour out of my way to take this test... (more)

In June I attended the JavaOne conference out in San Francisco, to keep up with what the Java world was doing, and to see how it impacted Web services. I see a number of parallels between Web services and the way that the various Java specifications have been created, and some ke... (more)

Have you ever visited one of those theme parks that depict life as it was in colonial times? I'm always fascinated by the blacksmith and other craftsmen who show you just how hard it actually was to produce items that we take for granted, and how many modern inventions, such as e... (more)

From time to time I hear people say "those who can, do; those who can't, manage." Usually a developer mutters this as he begins another 80-hour week courtesy of a slip in the project plan. Of course, once you get to be management yourself, you realize there's more to it than sim... (more)

My dictionary defines service as the work provided by one that serves. Sometimes it seems that you have to define something by itself, even when you don't want to. Web services provide the ability for an organization to expose its business processes for consumption, either publi... (more)

When I was a kid, I loved to put things together. I especially liked building things with LEGO. Never mind the TV, dump a huge pile of LEGO blocks in front of me and I'd be quiet for hours, building a LEGO version of the Eiffel Tower, or some other construct that only a kid could... (more)

My neighborhood is home to a host of birds, many of which fly south during the winter months. With spring in bloom, I always look forward to the return of the various avian travelers who dart and weave all over the open fields near my home. That's the kind of migration I look for... (more)

One of the more interesting conversations I have with IT organizations is over what constitutes a portal. While issues vary, it is clear that there is a business definition of a portal that is distinctly different from the technology definition of a portal. That isn't necessarily... (more)

Back in the old days, when you needed to communicate with someone distant, you usually had to send a letter. There was no instant response, and there was no way to tell when your message was received. Now we have always-on e-mail, BlackBerrys, and assorted other devices to make w... (more)

When I was younger, I found out the hard way that I was allergic to certain medications - I got three shots and went into shock. It left me deeply afraid of needles. To this day, doctors need to give me something to bite on when they give me a shot. Dentists, well, let's just say... (more)

What's in a name? A rose by any other name will still smell as sweet. Well, perhaps in the world of horticulture, but in the information technology arena, I'm not sure that aphorism applies. I'm sure you all realize that I'm referring to the recent purchase of Rational Software b... (more)

The Web services world is currently cluttered with code-intensive solutions that require intimate knowledge of lower-level protocols to successfully deploy applications as Web services. Much like the initial situation of the World Wide Web, when a detailed knowledge of the HTML s... (more)