| In plain English, the simplest way to imagine Middleware, is to view it the same way you might imagine a neighbourhood plumbing system. Servers and databases of information can be represented as the Dam/ Reservoir, and software applications for end users might be represented by the taps in your home. Middleware is the network of pipes and plumbing that you can't see, but somehow water gets from the dam into your kettle whenever you turn a tap on. This same analolgy can be used to explain why new software applications are developed a particular way each time - when you renovate your home, you don't buy all new plumbing and a new underground water delivery system to get water from the dam to your house. Instead you buy a new set of taps which fit neatly onto the spot where the old taps were. Middleware provides a standard way of doing things - so software developers don't have to reinvent the wheel each time they create a new software application - instead their application will fit the existing application servers, database connection drivers, authentication handlers, and messaging systems etc. Middleware isn't easily pinned down as one single type of software either - the sorts of things covered by the term "Middleware" includes The primary function of middleware is to connect systems, applications, and databases together in a secure and reliable way. It is this sort of functionality and "robust"ness that is required for corporations running large enterprise systems that involve hundreds or thousands of users interacting with software simultaneously. Middleware enables data to flow between the back end (the database or warehouse) and the front end - the end user trying to build reports, or even the data entry clerk. |
Fusion Middleware
