Wednesday, 5/23/2007
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Level: Business/Strategic

“Declarative programming” has become the latest buzzword to describe languages that abstractly define systems requirements (the what) and leave the implementation (the how) to be determined by independent processes. This makes the semantics (meaning) of declarative data elements even more critical as these systems are shared between organizations. This presentation will cover the background of declarative programming and describe why understanding the semantic aspects of declarative systems is becoming critical to cost-effective software development today. We will discuss declarative and semantic aspects of common development systems used today including XHTML, CSS, XForms, XML transforms, XML Schemas, OWL, metadata registries, web services, composition, service-oriented architectures (SOA) and the enterprise service bus (ESB). We discuss how social networking software and wikis are being used to quickly build consensus on precise semantics. We present ten specific recommendations to lower the cost of agile information systems. This presentation includes:

• Definitions of declarative systems and how they contrast with traditional procedural systems
• A critical analysis of semantics in declarative systems
• The role of social networking systems, reputation and trust in the development of semantically precise declarative frameworks
• Case studies using Wikis and other collaborative software
• Specific recommendations of how organizations can be more effective by integrating semantics and declarative systems into their software development processes

Dan McCreary is president of Dan McCreary & Associates, a Minnesota based consulting firm taking a leadership role in helping companies make strategic use of semantic and metadata technologies. With over 20 years in the technology industry and extensive consulting experience, Dan understands how organizations can use technology to give them a competitive advantage. He exudes the qualities of visionary technology strategist and pragmatic business leader. Dan has worked for Bell Labs, Steve Jobs’s NeXT Computer and founded his own his own consulting business with over 70 full-time employees. His areas of interest include XML Schema design, ISO/IEC 11179 metadata registries and the use of federal XML standards. He has published training materials on declarative systems, XForms and metadata registries.