Peter Varhol

The growth of applications using the .NET platform has generated an increased emphasis on performance measurement and analysis. Distributed applications, while much more flexible and potentially more scalable than monolithic ones, have characteristics that make it more difficult to achieve these very goals. The problem arises both in the individual components and in their interactions with one another. Individual application components may include computationally expensive code and bottlenecks that don't manifest themselves during unit testing, because the functionality is correct. Once separately developed components are integrated into the full application, performance bottlenecks may result from interactions between them. These problems are especially true of distributed applications utilizing Web services. In the case of traditional components utilizing COM or COR... (more)

The Challenges of Developing Distributed Java Applications

In just a few years the Java language and platform has become the technical approach of choice for building complex, distributed and Web-enabled applications across the enterprise. Thanks to its cross-platform runtime environment, object-oriented development model, and facilities for working with object request brokers and other code components, Java is well equipped for building such applications. Java enables software developers to provide seamless communication and application access to the rapidly growing world of Internet computers and communications devices, from UNIX serv... (more)

Exploring the Dark Side

The growing use of Services-Oriented Architectures puts pressure on application developers relying on Web services for key features of their applications.  Performance, scalability, and reliability of these components affect the ability of applications to meet Service-Level Agreements, yet can't easily be analyzed as a part of the application when developers have a problem.  In fact, the Web service may be on a different software platform than the rest of the application.  This session will explore how developers can shed light on memory use in Web services written in either .NET... (more)

Taking the Stress Out of IT

IT operations, in whatever form they take, are in a unique position in that they are rarely noticed until they fail to perform. Malfunctions, whether they are within or beyond your control, are highly visible and often critical, and typically must be fixed immediately. The reactive nature of IT management, and the increasing importance of IT development and operations to the enterprise, means that bending the will of technology to business and operations inherently involves long and often-irregular hours, dealings with both senior management and line-level employees, and making ... (more)