I’m pleased to announce a new distributed effort named ULSER.  ULSER stands for a set of uncompromisable architectural principles, specifically:

  • Uniform constrained interface.
  • Links as the engine of application state
  • Statelessness for scalability
  • Enterprise applicable
  • Resource and representation oriented

Why call it ULSER?  Well, even though these architectural principles are extremely useful to design distributed applications (and middleware), I’ve found that discussing any of these  principles publicly have given me (and others) an ulcer.   So, I thought I’d make these principles my own and let others share the pain.  I’m also going to create a set of standards called ULSER-*.  ULSER-*.org will focus on bringing ULSER principles to middleware technology.  Since middleware generally produces ulcers in engineers I think the name is perfect!  I’ve also created an open source Java project called EasyULSER so that you can let Java give you an ulcer too!

Also, don’t worry, I’ve deliberated with the doctor who discovered ulcers and coined the term “ulcer”.  He didn’t mind me using the term as long as what I’m doing will cause me an ulcer.  The ulcer community didn’t seem to mind either as when I tried to explain to them the principles of ULSER and how I’m using them, it gave them an ulcer too, so they were happy.  So, it looks like we’re ready to go!  ONWARD!