- Middleware is disappearing as its functions are absorbed into code and infrastructure. APIs are becoming the glue between microservices. - The developer's career progressed from COBOL to middleware and Java, then to cloud-native architectures, APIs, and distributed systems. - Today they evangelize cloud-native technologies and reference architectures that decompose monolithic systems into decentralized, API-connected microservices.

1. The Reconstitution of Middleware with APIs
Story of a middleware developer
Asanka Abeysinghe | Chief Technology Evangelist | WSO2, Inc | @asankama
July, 28 2021 https://wso2.com/

2. 2019
1997 2003
Architect
2012
VP Solutions
Architecture
2001 2008
Director
Solutions
Architecture
Deputy CTO
Open Source
Distributed Computing
Programmer
COBOL
OLE, OLE2
COM, COM+
DCOM
CORBA
Java Developer
J2EE
MMS
286-DX4
Eventing
FIX
HL7
CONNECT-health
Global architecture team
500+ customers
Champions program
Chief Architect
2005
QSP
AR
Trusted advocate
Game hacker
C++ programmer
Age-16
Hedge fund tools
Ref. Architecture
Ref. Methodology
Evangelize
2018
Middleware Developer/Architect
Entrepreneur
Chief Technology
Evangelist
2020
Connecting humans & technology
Architecting the transformation

3. Next 20-minutes
Story of a middleware developer
Intro
Beginning
Middleware
Architecture
Cloud
APIs
Contribution
3

4. Intro
Beginning
Middleware
Architecture
Cloud
APIs
Contribution
4

5. February 1997

6. First day at work
picture credit: https://www.richard-banks.org

7. First week at work
ISAM
DCom INPUT-OUTPUT SECTION.
FILE-CONTROL.
SELECT file-name ASSIGN TO dd-name
ORGANIZATION IS INDEXED
ACCESS MODE IS SEQUENTIAL
RECORD KEY IS rec-key1
ALTERNATE RECORD KEY IS rec-key2

8. March 1997

9. Middleware factory

10. Intro
Beginning
Middleware
Architecture
Cloud
APIs
Contribution
10

11. July 2014

12. picture credit: http://www.levisstadium.com/getting-here/

13. picture credit: https://www.ronniestewartracing.com/events/2016/4/2/levi-stadium-supercross-race

14. picture credit: https://www.ninersnation.com

15. Platform to perform
Connecting an experience
Colin Kaepernick Eli Tomac Chris Martin

16. Middleware is computer software that provides
services to software applications beyond those
available from the operating system. It can be
described as "software glue”.
Middleware makes it easier for software developers to
implement communication and input/output, so they
can focus on the specific purpose of their
application.

17. Type of Middleware
Message Oriented Object Oriented
Remote Procedure Call Database
Transaction Portals
Embedded Content-centric

18. Fall 2008

19. Modular Middleware

20. Intro
Beginning
Middleware
Architecture
Cloud
APIs
Contribution
20

21. Summer 2021

22. COMPOSABLE ENTERPRISE WITH CLOUD NATIVE
Autonomous releases, CI/CD, self-organization, change-control authority
App (n)
App
Microservice
INTEGRATION
MESSAGING
DATA
SECURITY
App 2
App
Miniservices
INTEGRATION
MESSAGING
DATA
SECURITY
APIs
Self-
Organizing
Dev Teams
. . .
Ops
Team
Event-Based Hybrid Integration Platform
Scaling | HA | Resilience | Observability
Orchestration & High-Performance Data Store
Ops Infrastructure
Architecture Blocks Enable the Composable Enterprise
App Logic
. . .
Scaling HA Resilience Observability
Scaling HA Resilience Observability
HA Resilience Observability
Compute Network Storage
Ops Infrastructure
Centralized
Dev Org
Middleware
& Integration
CoE Teams
Ops
Team
LAYERED ENTERPRISE WITH CENTER OF EXCELLENCE
Coordinated releases, organizational rigor, centralized change control
HA Resilience Observability
Scaling
INTEGRATION
HA Resilience Observability
Scaling
MESSAGING
HA Resilience Observability
Scaling
DATA
HA Resilience Observability
Scaling
SECURITY
App Logic
App Logic
App 1 App 2 App (n)
DevOps
App (1)
App
Microservice
INTEGRATION
MESSAGING
DATA
SECURITY

23. Intro
Beginning
Middleware
Architecture
Cloud
APIs
Contribution
23

24. Lift and shift
Source:Clod Strategy - Gregor Hohpe

25. MIDDLEWARE IS DISAPPEARING
In the long run
- into code (simpler constructs, more power)
- into infrastructure (scaling, management, observability)

26. Sidecar
Source:https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/designing-distributed-systems/9781491983638/ch02.html

27. Sidecars
Picture credit: https://badbikegang.wordpress.com/tag/visor/
Source:Clod Strategy - Gregor Hohpe

28. Infrastructure
Source: https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/overview/components/

29. MIDDLEWARE IS DISAPPEARING
In the long run
- into code (simpler constructs, more power)
- into infrastructure (scaling, management, observability)

30. Intro
Beginning
Middleware
Architecture
Cloud
APIs
Contribution
30

31. Evolution of APIs

32. APIs the glue of (µ) components deployed in
a decentralized architecture
https://github.com/wso2/reference-architecture/blob/master/reference-architecture-cell-based.md
Internal
External
Req/res
Events
Streams
Edge
Domain
Utility

33. MIDDLEWARE IS DISAPPEARING
- into code (simpler constructs, more power)
- into infrastructure (scaling, management, observability)
APIs the glue of (µ) components.

34. http://ballerina.io
‘Cloud-native Programming Language’
https://wso2.com/choreo
‘Low-code Cloud-native Engineering for Professional Developers’
Contribution
@asankama
https://www.linkedin.com/in/asankaabeysinghe/
https://blog.architect2architect.com
https://wso2.com
#connect
https://github.com/wso2/reference-architecture/blob/master/reference-architecture-cell-based.md
‘Decentralized Reference Architecture for Cloud-native Applications’