This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
The Future of Mashups
- Mashups aren't just about mixing Web sites together to create new solutions—they're a tool for unlocking the treasure chest of data right under your nose.
The primary goal of this book is for the reader to scan at least one pattern and realize, "I never thought you could do that!" The examples that accompany the patterns are aimed at both the business end user and the technical user. When you understand how mashups can be used to mine new information or automate traditionally manual activities, you'll never look at your workplace in quite the same way. The morass of daily problems suddenly becomes visible—but now you'll have the inspiration and knowledge to tackle them. As with the classic Design Patterns text, Mashup Patterns is intended to provide a general language that developers and the business can use to succinctly communicate about a solution ("Oh, we can use a Time Series mashup here").
It's not every day that we witness a groundbreaking advancement in application development. Most improvements occur gradually and can take years to snowball into something useful. They may require costly new investments in infrastructure or reengineering of existing resources. Or they may be confined to a narrow niche in our industry. Only the naive overlook the dangers that come with any great leap; only the foolish cite those risks as reason enough to ignore the potential benefits.
Don't let the hype surrounding mashups cause you to abandon the best practices that guide good development. Likewise, be open to thinking creatively about the problems that exist around you. Employees who face seemingly intractable problems or whose careers have trained them to ignore the breakdowns in their organization will be delighted to discover that practical solutions are now available. The patterns in this book will help you get started by demonstrating how mashups can help you achieve the following goals:
- Make money for your organization
- Fill gaps not met by the existing IT infrastructure
- Create a quick proof-of-concept to explore new solutions
- Gain a competitive advantage
- Avoid "information overload"
- Expose your applications to a wider audience
and more!
Enterprise 2.0 is all about You. And the potential benefits from mashups are as big as anything you can imagine.