WSO2 Mashup Server: Unleashing the Power of Content

WSO2, an open source SOA provider, has combined JavaScript programming and Web services with the launch of its Mashup Server 1.0.

This open source offering, which can be downloaded without subscription fees, will allow enterprises to consume, aggregate and publish information in a variety of forms and from a variety of sources.

At the same time, WSO2, based in Colombo, Sri Lanka, and Mountain View, Calif., has announced the beta release of Mooshup.com, a hosted online version of the Mashup Server, which provides a community site for developing, running and sharing mashups. [Disclosure: WSO2 has been a sponsor of BriefingsDirect podcasts.]

Mashup-Friendly Mashups

Each new service in the mashup comes with metadata that is designed to simplify consumption by other mashups and Web services clients, as well as artifacts that simplify construction of user interfaces (UIs) in browsers, rich applications and other environments. Because it supports the separation of content and presentation, Mashup Server enables recursive mashups, meaning one mashup can be consumed by another. It also broadens the user interface beyond HTML (hyper text markup language) to RSS (really simple syndication) and Atom feeds, e-mail, and instant messaging.

The use of JavaScript leverages the broad base of developers who use the broad-based language, and mashups can be authored directly within the administrative UI, with a simple text editor, or with any popular integrated development environment (IDE).

The beta version of Mashup Server has already gotten good notices. Ohloh.net estimates that it would have cost an enterprise US$571,736 to write this project from scratch, figuring nearly 45,000 lines of code and 10 person-years.

Well Received

Ganesh Prasad, who blogs at The Wisdom of Ganesh, has a lot of good things to say, based on the beta release:

So is the WSO2 Mashup Server the one that will bring balance to the Force? A powerful programming language. Laughably easy XML (extensible markup language) manipulation. Simple access to SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) services and REST (representational state transfer) resources. Transparent publication of itself as a service or resource in turn. Isn’t this the holy grail of service composition?

WSO2 Mashup Server seems to be the industry’s best-kept secret for now.

The Mashup Server is built on the WSO2 Web Services Application Server, based on Apache/Axis2, and WSO2’s built-in registry. Key features include:

• The ability to author and deploy mashups using notepad and a Mashup Server virtual directory.
• Auto-generation of Web service and UI artifacts, such as WSDL (Web Services Description Language), REST URLs (uniform resource locators), JavaScript stubs.
• Try-It feature to help developers invoke and debug mashups or start developing their own rich HTML clients.
• Web 2.0-style console, powered by the WSO2 Registry, which natively supports different users, and allows tags, comments and ratings and a powerful search capability.

The Mashup Server is available for download. Mooshup.com membership is free, contingent on email verification.