Reason #14: Web Services

20 Reasons to Migrate Magic eDeveloper, uniPaaS and Magic xpa to .NET by Upgrading Rather than Converting

Today's entry in the reasons not to convert Magic eDeveloper, uniPaaS, or Magic xpa to C#.NET code is Web Services. If you ask Microsoft how-to incorporate Web Services into an application, they simply refer you to ASP.NET. Why? Because C# is considered an unsuitable match for developing programs that publish or subscribe Web Services.

But let’s suppose you decide to be stubborn and persist in migrating your Magic Web Services to C# which uses a line-by-line coding approach.

In a simple example, just to pass a SOAP header, your C# code would look something like this:

<%@ Page Language="C#" %>

<asp:Label id="ReturnValue" runat="server" />

<script runat=server language=c#>

 void Page_Load(Object o, EventArgs e)

 {

  MyHeader mySoapHeader = new MyHeader();

  // Populate the values of the SOAP header.

  mySoapHeader.Username = Username;

  mySoapHeader.Password = SecurelyStoredPassword;

  // Create a new instance of the proxy class.

  MyWebService proxy = new MyWebService();

 

  // Add the MyHeader SOAP header to the SOAP request.

  proxy.MyHeaderValue = mySoapHeader;

  // Call the method on the proxy class that communicates with

  // your Web service method.

  string results = proxy.MyWebMethod();

  // Display the results of the method in a label.

  ReturnValue.Text = results;

 }

</script>

Here’s how you do it in Magic xpa: interact with the dialog box Header field.

Also, when consuming Web services (either by using the Invoke Web S or Invoke Web S Lite operation), the Magic xpa engine does a lot of work for us.

Magic xpa lets you call a Web service directly or uses the Systinet Web Services framework (named "Systinet Server for Java") for providing and consuming Web Services.

Magic xpa provides rich Web Services support including:

·         SOAP 1.1 and SOAP 1.2

·         WSDL 1.1

·         WS-I Attachments Profile 1.0

·         MTOM/XOP support

·         WS-I Basic Profile 1.1 Compliance

·         Transport level security – SSL\TLS

·         WS-Security 1.0 – authentication, encryption and digital signing of SOAP messages

Ask yourself this question: Is my company in business to write programming code? If writing code is not your business and not at the heart of the charter of your company, then why spend so much time managing code when you can manage applications that support your business instead?

For additional information on how an upgrade is superior to Magic to .NET conversion please convert here.

Reason #5: Upgrading to Magic xpa reduces risk versus C#, ASP, or Java

20 Reasons to Migrate Magic eDeveloper, uniPaaS and Magic xpa to .NET by Upgrading Rather than Converting

Reason #5: Upgrading to Magic xpa reduces risk versus C#, ASP, or Java

As Magic customers rely on applications to support key business functions, it is important to ensure that the application resides in the latest fully supported versions of Magic technologies.  The choice for those running applications between Magic eDeveloper to .NET conversion and Magic eDeveloper to C#, ASP or Java conversion is an important decision fraught with risk.

IT risk identification, management and response is a key concern for all enterprise IT departments. Senior executives and management have a responsibility of “Assuring investors and shareholders that a ‘standard of due care’ around mitigating IT risks is being met by the organization.” (IT Governance Institute, COBIT 4.1 Framework, 2007). In an enterprise environment, there is considerable risk in working with unsupported architectures, and this risks non-compliance with federal legislation and SOX guidelines.  In fact, our Fortune 500 customers tell us that the upgrade to Magic xpa is essential to maintaining SOX compliance. We have to note that Magic’s platform is just one piece of the overall architecture of the business computing environment, and as other components of the architecture change, it is important to ensure that all components are compatible.  Hardware, Infrastructure, Operating Systems and Databases that come in touch with Magic Applications, are constantly changing by their respective vendors, and evolving irrespective of the computing technology in use.  Most of these vendors tend to have limited life spans on their deliverables and the needs of a complex computing environment require prudent upgrades of these components.

Reason #5: Upgrading to Magic xpa reduces risk versus C#, ASP, or Java

Infrastructure changes are driven by a number of factors: 1) Lack of available parts for older hardware may lead to BIOS, processor or other incompatibilities; 2) Operating System versions that are under cease-of-support and end-of-life conditions; 3)  Enterprise IT mandates and “green” initiatives; 4) Change-of-behavior or discontinued features in databases, middleware and other components. Indeed, upgraded operating systems and database versions often provide tremendous advantages in terms of performance, integrity and security.  Should an infrastructure component upgrade be unsupported by the older application platform technology, there is considerable risk that business operations could be disrupted:

a)    Because the unsupported component may cause the Magic technology to become unpredictable, or cease to work altogether.

b)    Because an older component may fail and it may be difficult to source an older compatible replacement.

c)    The older the version, the less the likelihood of available service-level agreements, warranties, support or the human resources knowledgeable about older technologies and problems, this can lead to delays that may take a long time to diagnose and/or resolve.

d)    Development work may increasingly involve complex workarounds and fixes;

e)    Production system down time can increase to unacceptable levels, up to and including complete system failure.

Magic applications are often part of a larger Corporate Enterprise Application Portfolio; it is important that your applications do not become an “island”, with no ability to interact with newer technologies.  The latest versions of Magic xpa 2.x are constantly being updated to take advantage of newer emerging technologies and standards to ensure interoperability with other industry standard technologies including .NET.

Both risk and cost savings are compelling reasons to ensure that all elements of your Magic applications will be utilizing the latest technologies from Magic Software. The IT Governance Institute suggests that the goal of risk response is to “Ensure that IT-related risk issues, opportunities and events are addressed in a cost-effective manner and in line with business priorities.” (IT Governance Institute, Enterprise Risk: Identify, Govern and Manage IT Risk, The Risk IT Framework Exposure Draft, 2009.) The problem with converting to C#.NET, ASP.NET or Java is that they all increase cost and risk. There is much more effort after the conversion to maintaining an application with large programming teams required to accomplish what could be accomplished by a single Magic developer before. Costs skyrocket with the code-centric approaches, risks mount as unending communication cycles are generated by those trying to figure out what the machine generated code does, and bugs spread across the code-base as developers unfamiliar with the language or the business logic introduce new issues and risks that are simply not present when upgrading.

But the time to upgrade is now (actually its way poast time, but not too late). Magic Software removed support for eDeveloper 9.4 in December 2009, while eDeveloper 10.2 was superseded by uniPaaS; and uniPaaS is now superseded by Magic xpa 2.x. 

The importance of moving from eDeveloper 9.4  to Magic xpa in a timely manner, and continuing to leverage the investment made in  Magic applications is only magnified when considering the risk your company is exposed to when not fully migrated to Magic xpa and .NET.

As many businesses continue to expand their vision of a fully integrated Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Web Services, RIA, SaaS, Green IT, etc., the importance to the business of using the latest Technology Stack available demands high visibility.  The success of your IT team in the eyes of internal business customers depends on your reputation for deployment on Magic Software’s modern extensible platform, Magic xpa Application Platform, which can become an integral part of your enterprise’s world-class technology architecture.

For additional information on how an upgrade to Magic xpa is superior to Magic eDeveloper to .NET conversion please convert here.