Oslo: ¿El parto de los montes?

Acabo de leer la nota de Douglas Purdy, y debo hacerlo dos veces, y revisar mis anteojos: ¿Oslo pasa a ser una herramienta de modelado para SQL Server? ¿M es un lenguaje textual para definir esquemas, consultas, funciones y DSLs para bases de datos SQL Server? ¿Quadrant es una herramienta para interactuar con datasets? Purdy confirma lo que Jacques Dubray adelantara al anunciarse la intervención del Data Developer Center.
El post completo de Douglas, con resaltados verdes míos:

As I stated in my previous post, we have been on a journey with “Oslo”. At the 2007 SOA/BP conference we announced that “Oslo” was a multiyear, multiproduct effort to simplify the application development lifecycle by enhancing .NET, Visual Studio, Biztalk and SQL Server. At PDC 2008, we announced that various pieces of “Oslo” were being spun off and shipped in the application server (“Dublin”), the cloud (.NET Services), and the .NET Framework (WF/WCF 4.0). We rechristened the ‘Oslo” name for the modeling platform pieces of the overall vision.

In the year since PDC 2008, we delivered three public CTPs and conducted many software design reviews (SDRs) with key customers, partners and analysts. We listened intently to the feedback and it helped us to shape our approach toward bring this technology to market. With PDC now one week away, we are beginning to disclose the next chapter in the journey to “Oslo”, with more to be unveiled at various keynotes and sessions at the PDC event itself.

Of the key things we observed over the last year was the real, tangible customer value in applying “Oslo” to working with SQL Server. Time after time we heard that “M” would make interacting with the database easier, provided we offered a good end to end experience with tools (VS) and frameworks (Entity Framework and Data Services) that developers use today. We heard that developers wanted to use the novel data navigation/editing approach offered by “Quadrant” to access their data in whatever SQL Server they wanted, not just the “Repository”. We heard that the notion of a “Repository” as something other than SQL Server was getting in the way of our conversations with customers.

Another thing we learned was that most of the customers that we wanted to leverage the modeling platform were already using SQL Server as their “repository”. Take an application like SharePoint. It is already model-driven. It already stores its application definition in a database. Dynamics is the same way. Windows Azure is the same way. System Center is the same way. What we didn’t have was a common language, tools or models that spanned all of these applications, although they were all leveraging the same database runtime. The simplest path to get all of these customers sharing a common modeling platform seemed obvious.

Lastly, we learned that the folks on the SQL Server team were hearing the need for additional mechanisms to make the database more approachable to developers. Developers did not want use three different languages to build their database applications (T-SQL, a .NET language and a XML mapping file). Developers wanted new tools that let them deal with the truly massive amount of data they need to handle on a daily basis. Developers wanted to radically simplify their interactions with the database, with a straightforward way of writing down data and getting an application as quickly as possible.

With all of the above in mind, we just announced (at VS Connections) the transition from “Oslo” to SQL Server Modeling. At PDC, we will release a new CTP using this name, SQL Server Modeling CTP, that will begin to demonstrate how developers will use these technologies in concert with things like T-SQL, ADO.NET, ASP.NET and other parts of the .NET Framework to build database applications.

The components of the SQL Server Modeling CTP are:

• “M” is a highly productive, developer friendly, textual language for defining schemas, queries, values, functions and DSLs for SQL Server databases
• “Quadrant” is a customizable tool for interacting with large datasets stored in SQL Server databases
• “Repository” is a SQL Server role for the the secure sharing of models between applications and systems

We will announce the official names for these components as we land them, but the key thing is that all of these components are now part of SQL Server and will ship with a future release of that product.

At PDC, we will unify the “Oslo” Developer Center and the Data Developer Center. You will be able to find the new SQL Server Modeling CTP at our new home (http://msdn.microsoft.com/data) the first day of PDC. I encourage you to download this CTP and send us your feedback.

If you are attending PDC, we have some great sessions and keynotes that will highlight the work we are doing with SQL Server Modeling. My personal favorite is “Active Directory on SQL Server Modeling” (the actual title is The ‘M’-Based System.Identity Model for Accessing Directory Services), which is going to show how a serious “ISV” is using these technologies.

Speaking for myself and the team, we are very excited about this transition. Many of us have worked on numerous “v1” products while at Microsoft. This sort of transition is exactly what successful “v1” products/technologies undergo based our collective experience. You have a vision based on customer need. You write some code. You get customer feedback. You adjust. You repeat. You find the place that maximizes your investment for customers. You focus like a laser on delivering that customer value. You ship.

Looking forward to the next chapter…

Aquí hay cien observaciones para hacer. Será la próxima vez. Por hoy, la noticia en sí es suficiente.