Rapid Application Evolution and Integration Through Document Metamorphosis

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how a flexible, metamorphic document data model enables rapid application evolution and integration, especially suited for data-intensive and enterprise component-based applications.

Contribution

It introduces a flexible document data model supporting structural fluidity, extending its use beyond knowledge-base management to application development and integration.

Findings

Supports rapid application evolution and integration

Facilitates decoupled programming in enterprise frameworks

Proven effective in building complex applications

Abstract

The Harland document management system implements a data model in which document (object) structure can be altered by mixin-style multiple inheritance at any time. This kind of structural fluidity has long been supported by knowledge-base management systems, but its use has primarily been in support of reasoning and inference. In this paper, we report our experiences building and supporting several non-trivial applications on top of this data model. Based on these experiences, we argue that structural fluidity is convenient for data-intensive applications other than knowledge-base management. Specifically, we suggest that this flexible data model is a natural fit for the decoupled programming methodology that arises naturally when using enterprise component frameworks.