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Java and PSE's

© Adam Hughes

The last couple of articles in this space have focused on how the widespread use and availability of Java is making it popular for wrapping up many existing scientific software packages into snazzy new packages. The easy portability of Java software makes this approach nice for developers as well, since any platform that runs a program now will still run it after it's interfaced with Java. Naturally, as people have been gaining access to more codes through a friendlier user environment, they have demanded more and more. In many circles, there is a great effort afoot to make a ubiquitous interface that would allow scientists to interact with nearly any piece of existing software in a given genre. The term usually applied to such an ambitious undertaking is Problem Solving Environment, or PSE.

In most design and implementations schemes, there are at least three tiers which comprise a PSE. On the back end (or tier), are the servers and applications. Simply put, these are the workhorse codes and computers that will eventually do the actual calculations. On the front end are the user and the user interface. This interface usually consists of a user's computer (PC, workstation, etc.), running some piece of software, such as a Java GUI, that allows him to formulate input and view output. We'll come back to this tier in a moment.

The middle tier is the most amorphously defined and complicated of the three, and it's the reason that PSE's are made up of "at least" three tiers. In fact, the middleware often consists of multiple pieces itself. In general terms, though, the middle tier must be capable of "talking" to both the back end thoroughbreds and the front end beauty queens, and letting each know what the other is up to. There are many technologies present in a typical middleware product, and perhaps we'll look at them someday. But for now, just suffice it to say that the middle tier is the glue for the PSE.

What we're going to focus on for now is the front end of a Problem Solving Environment. The proliferation of Java technologies has had a profound impact on the development of such products, providing common looks and feels, and nice encapsulated entities with which programmers can work. Next week, we'll look more deeply into what's going on in the world of PSE front ends.

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