Archive for February, 2008

Does Gen have a Logo ?

Well – does it ?

Here are some well-known logos for development toolsets or products or the like:

OK – so the last time that I remember Gen having a “logo” was ….when ?

Could we consider the following as a logo ?

– well no – it’s part of the branding – rather than a “logo” that people recognise.

Maybe what we need is a logo that people can identify with – after all, Java got where it is today by being a “brand” around coffee – <controversy on> not by being particularly easy to use or productive <controversy off> !!!

The Gen product – as we all know – is VERY productive, VERY easy to use – so maybe it needs a logo that reflects that in a snazzy sort of way  ?????

A mystery article!

I was browsing the web and came across the following article

It contains the names of a few familiar people. It is nearly a year old, but I’d still like to understand what it says. It is written in Finnish, and I can’t find a translator for Finnish to English on the Web…

Can ANYONE translate it….. please…..????

Cool Gen unohtui CA:n salkkuun

[Erkka Felt 19.3.2007, 14:49]

Suurkonemaailman paras kehitysympäristö oli 90-luvulla Texas Instrumentsin Composer. Se oli tietokoneavusteinen graafinen koodigeneraattori, joka perustui TI:n 80-luvulla julkistamaan IEF-ohjelmointityökaluun.

Kallis mutta uudenaikainen ympäristö meni hyvin kaupaksi suurille finanssitaloille Suomessa, erityisesti vakuutusyhtiölle. Sovelluskehittimelle oli huutava tarve, sillä valmisohjelmia ei vakuutuspuolelle ollut mainittavasti tarjolla. Muualla maailmassa softa ei tehnyt merkittävää läpimurtoa.

Synkkiä pilviä alkoi kuitenkin kerääntyä työkalun ylle. Sen kohtaloksi muodostuivat ulkopuoliset tekijät, sillä taustalla mylläsi onnettomien tapahtumien ketju.

Omistajalta toiselle

Texasilaisen it-pioneeri Sam Wylyn johtama Sterling Software osti TI:n ohjelmistodivisioonan vuonna 1997, jolloin Composer päätyi Sterlingin tuotehyllyyn uudella Cool Gen-nimellä.

Cool Genin suomalainen jälleenmyyjä ICL katosi pian kauppojen jälkeen, ja Computer Assoaciates osti Sterlingin Softwaren vuonna 2000 miljardiluokan osakevaihdolla. CA nimesi yrityskaupalla saadun työkalun Advantage Gen -nimellä ja sen uusin versio on AllFusion Gen.

Computer Associatesin, nykyisen CA:n mainetta rasittivat vuosituhannen alussa ilmi tulleet liikevaihtoon liittyvät epäselvyydet. Sterlingin sulauttaminen ei myöskään ollut helppoa, sillä CA:n suuromistajaksi noussut Sam Wyly vastusti tuotteen koko elinkaaren kattavaa lisenssimaksumallia ja yhtiön silloista hallitusta. Vastarinta ei saanut muilta osakkailta tukea.

Read more…

Tool Integration and Gen

Again – picking up on the conversation in one of the Gatherings, it seems that there is a feeling that Gen should be at the centre i.e. “the engine” around which many tools should be developed.

It could be argued that this is already the case, with the Gen eco-system building and developing addon products and tools, but this is shifting the focus in a subtle way.

The models that Gen has operated on can be exposed to other media, and other diagramming and notational toolsets. This is already happening, with tools that allow UML notation to be constructed from Gen models.

Businesses these days so often require a system to be described in UML, as that is something they either want to, or can understand. However, it’s not so easy (or even desirable)  to construct UML manually  for a system already in production, especially as Gen typically is used to construct the larger systems.

We should welcome tools that allow exposition of the largest asset Gen has – the model – to other notations and descriptive forms.

It also works both ways – businesses that are familiar with UML can then consider Gen as a system development tool of choice if “round-trip” editing is in place i.e. change your UML model and the Gen Model changes with it and vice versa.

It’s all about choice these days – one tool can’t do it all, but Gen can offer a reliable way of producing mission-critical systems, which, with the right tooling can even specified in UML……..

Gen and the JAVA API for addins

Picking up on something that was said in the 2nd Gen Gathering, a Java API for addins to the Gen toolset. The current API is C based, which, in some ways limits the amount of development that can be done, simply because of the proliferation of Java programmers available these days.

having a Java API would extend (yet again) the reach of the toolset – this time in a different direction. Many Java programmers could be introduced to the tool via the Java API.

Again, maybe there are tools out there which are already written in Java (editors, syntax checkers, diagramming tools, model tools) that could use the Java API to connect to the tool’s model repository and manipulate it.

In development now are tools which allow this sort of activity (ModelCVS for example) and more besides – in fact, full model transformation capabilities.

The introduction of a Java API would be a boon to the Gen community – I don’t even know if its on any roadmap yet, but it seems like a good idea !

More pictures…

Pictures of the Second Virtual Gen Gathering are here:

The transcript is available as a PDF document to download here.