Emerging Technologies:
De-mystifying Web 2.0
William Dana
Academic Support Resources
[email protected]
William Dana
Lead Business
Analyst
Not a developer, an
analyst
Academic Support
Resources, Universi
ty of Minnesota
Introductions
“Web 2.0”…what is it?
Source: http://store.muledesign.com/shirts/koolaid.php
Is this it?
“Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the
computer industry caused by the move to the
Internet as a platform, and an attempt to
understand the rules for success on that new
platform.” - Tim O’Reilly
source: http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2006/12/web-20-compact-definition-tryi.html
How about this?
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005/09/30/what-isweb-20.html
Or, maybe this….
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0
Everyone de-mystified?
Key elements:
• User is in control
• Data driven
• The kind of computer does not matter
• The kind of browser does not matter
• Nothing is ever “done”
Of course, new tech means fun
new words!
•Web Services
•SOA
•XML
•WSDL
•RSS
•Mash-up
•CSS
•Social
Networking
•Wiki
•Blog
•WYSIWYG
•AVATAR
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_9000
Disclaimer
• Web 2.0 definitions are open to
interpretation.
• In fact, you can change the definition to suit
your needs
needs.
• Fair warning….if you have a phone with web
access, you could probably change the
definitions right now!
SOA – Service-Oriented Architecture
• Sometimes pronounced – “So-ah”
• Wikipedia. org: One can define a service-oriented
architecture (SOA) as a group of services that
communicate with each other. The process of
communication involves either simple datapassing or two or more services coordinating
some activity. Intercommunication implies the
need for some means of connecting two or more
services to each other.
Web Service
• A mechanism developers use to share
information/data between systems
•
In geek: A Web service is defined by the W3C as "a software system
designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a
network". Web services are frequently just Web APIs that can be accessed
over a network, such as the Internet, and executed on a remote system
h
hosting
the
h requested
d services. - Wikipedia
k d
• Acronyms in this definition:=2 - Sweet!
• Last 5 years:
– we have seen an overwhelming adoption of “web
services” across IT vendors and products
– This is established a “standard” language for
exchanging information
Why should we care about web
services?
• SOA and services are revolutionizing how data
is presented on the web.
• Services provide data in a way that is easily
modified and shaped to conform to an
interface.
• Services allow users to see consistent
content, regardless of where they are.
• For example…
But first…Who can read XML?
E
v
e
r
y
o
n
e
!
<Campus CampusCode="UMNTC" TermCode="Spring 2009">
−
<CourseInfo>
<Catalog>1001</Catalog>
<Subject>ANTH</Subject>
<SubjectDescription>Anthropology</SubjectDescription>
<Description>meets Lib Ed req of Biological Sciences/Lab Core</Description>
<Title>Human Evolution</Title>
−
<ClassInformation ClassNumber="" SectionNumber="001">
<ClassStatus>Active</ClassStatus>
<Component>LEC</Component>
−
<MeetingSchedule>
<StartAndEndTimes>11:15 A.M. - 12:30 P.M.</StartAndEndTimes>
<MeetingDays>Tu,Th</MeetingDays>
<StartAndEndDates>01/20/2009 - 05/08/2009</StartAndEndDates>
<Room>175</Room>
<Facility>WilleyH</Facility>
<Location>TCWESTBANK</Location>
XML - Extensible Markup Language
• XML, in combination with other standards, makes it
possible to define the content of a document
separately from its formatting, making it easy to reuse
that content in other applications or for other
presentation environments. Most importantly, XML
provides a basic syntax that can be used to share
information between different kinds of
computers, different applications, and different
organizations without needing to pass through many
layers of conversion. –wikipedia.org
• SOAP – Simple Object Access Protocol
• XML /SOAP is how all of this is possible….
Now our example…
• Question: Where do students need to see
their adviser information?
• Answer: Everywhere!
• Problem:
P bl
Ad
Adviser
i iinformation
f
i lilives iin our
central SIS database (PeopleSoft).
Adviser Service
• Questions we need the system to answer:
– Student: Who are my advisers and members of my
advising committee(s).
– Adviser: Who are my advisees?
• Service provides the information to
developers using a WSDL.
• Great… what’s a WSDL?
WSDL – Web Services Description
Language
• WSDL: (pronounced 'wiz-dəl' or spelled out, 'W-S-D-L')
is an XML-based language that provides a model for
describing Web services.- wikipedia.org
• To invoke a service, a consuming application must
know the service’s
service s interface
interface, including how to structure
content and which transport protocol to use. WSDL
explicitly describes this interface in a
standardized, machine-readable format fit for
consumption by tools.
• We, as a central unit, created the rules to govern how
adviser information should be returned in the WSDL.
What applications currently use the
adviser service?
•
•
•
•
•
Web Registration
Graduation Planner
APAS- degree audit
ePortfolio
P tf li
College of Liberal Arts – Enrollment Tracking
System
• University of Minnesota-Duluth: Adviser Connect
• MyU Portal
Students and staff see
the same information
no matter where they
are in our system.
RSS - Really Simple Syndication
• RSS is one way to give control back to the user.
• Through RSS, I control what information
displays on my page.
• A family of Web feed formats used to publish
frequently updated works—such as blog
entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in
a standardized format. – wikipedia.org
• For example:
https://www.lib.umn.edu/mylibrary/
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rss
Mash-up
• Web applications that combines data from
one or more sources into a single integrated
tool.
• implies easy,
easy fast integration,
integration frequently done
by access to open APIs and data sources to
produce results that were not the original goal
of the data owners.
• For example: http://www.polisci.umn.edu/
Couple more terms related to services:
• Widget – a feed with design elements built in to
the code.
• Middleware - a piece of software that connects
two or more software applications, allowing
them to exchange data.
• Portal – a site designed to aggregate and
personalize information.
• CSS – Cascading Style Sheet – a way to create
web pages that makes it easy to change visual
elements on the page.
Social Networking – Let the fun begin!
Social Networking
Avatar
• Sanscrit definition: incarnation
• In geek: an electronic alter-ego
http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/main.html
Blog
• Simply put – an online diary
• (a contraction of the term weblog) is a
website, usually maintained by an individual with
regular entries of commentary, descriptions of
events, or other material such as graphics or
video. Entries are commonly displayed in reversechronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a
verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a
blog. – wikipedia.org
Blogs and information dissemination
• Good for newsletters
• Good for RSS
• Good for self-indulgent, naval-gazing, social
media
di narcissists
i i
• Twitter: Micro-blogs. Anyone in the room
using Twitter for work?
Wiki
• a collection of web pages designed to enable
anyone with access to contribute or modify
content.
• For example:
• http://wikipedia.org
• https://wiki.umn.edu/view/Wiki2/WebHome
WYSIWYG
• What you see is what you get.
• Allows a user to make changes to a web page
without knowing a programming language.
Next…..
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/pattie_maes_de
mos_the_sixth_sense.html
Emerging Technologies:
De-mystifying Web 2.0
William Dana
Academic Support Resources
[email protected]