Introduction to Resource-Oriented Computing

Executive Summary This white paper introduces Resource-Oriented Computing (ROC) and explores the reasons why it provides an economically compelling and technically elegant computing platform. The paper presents the axioms of ROC, discusses historical examples and examines a complete resource-oriented computing platform. This paper makes statements about performance and the economics of system engineering that will sound to many like well worn marketing hype. To demonstrate that these statements are in fact simple facts, the paper introduces and builds upon a foundation of fundamental principles. It is likely that these principles will challenge your understanding of the nature of computation. Resource-oriented computing is a new computing model with an old history. ROC is concerned first and foremost with information processing. It emphasizes logical information sources, uses, and transformation, ahead of physical code, data, and programming languages. The change of primary focus from languages to information represents a departure from an evolutionary path that has led from machine code to assembler, procedural, modular, and then object-oriented programming. Whilst this evolution has yielded significant improvements in productivity and expressive-ness, ties to the physical computing layer (such as physical addresses) have restrained a leap forward to a truly simple logically-based computational model. Resource-oriented computing offers this new simplified computing model. While it may seem that a model separated from direct association with the physical computing layer would be inefficient, hard evidence indicates the opposite. Resource-oriented systems typically run three to four times faster than equivalent systems written in Java J2EE and Microsoft .Net. Resource-oriented systems scale with CPUs for the same reasons that web sites scale with load balancing. The economics of resource-oriented computing are compelling. Systems require ten to one hundred times less code and application development time is measured in weeks instead of months and years. Life-cycle costs are dramatically lower because the resulting systems manage complexity and are inherently more flexible. Resource-oriented computing is based on simple principles and is easy to learn. This white paper provides a high-level introduction to the major concepts. More information is available from 1060 Introduction Resource-oriented computing (ROC) is a simple fundamental model for describing, designing, and implementing software and software systems. Its simplicity derives from a small set of principles discovered through research initially started at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories and continued and expanded by 1060 Research. Resource-oriented computing is simple, not simplistic. Powerful production systems have been built in a fraction of the time required …