As we indicated earlier in this chapter, these tools represent the first wave of autonomic development tools, and their acceptance and success in the corporate trenches has yet to be determined. However, it is a start in the right direction. One observation made is that these tools are themselves complex to use—which may defeat the overall objective of reducing IT complexity that autonomic computing was introduced to eliminate. It may increase the complexity of developing autonomic applications—but will lessen the complexity of operations and support. There is a learning curve to master as well—how long that curve is remains to be seen. This may be an issue that clearly needs to be analyzed and probed much more deeply to determine if it is significant.
Other challenges for the autonomic development tools include:
A set of development methodologies is needed—repeatable processes that can help developers construct custom autonomic software with quality, performance and reliability in mind.
Training is lacking—although there are many online or downloadable tutorials available, there is very little classroom training announced. The design and construction of autonomic software is new and there are specific methods and knowledge that must be understood by developers.
New Technology is coming—expect the tools and software to be significantly developed and enhanced over the next few years, as new features, products, and enhancements are created by IBM with feedback from customers.
For more information on the tools and software discussed in this chapter, please see the following Web sites:
Eclipse.org is an open consortium of software development tool vendors that has formed a community interested in collaborating to create better development environments and product integration
The main IBM site is located at http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/eclipse
The main IBM site for autonomic development tools is located at http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/autonomic.
Starting points for open source sites include the following:
