Web application technologies like PHP, CGI, Javascript, and Ajax have made it much easier for people to construct and deploy services on the Internet. Unfortunately, this has opened a wide avenue for new attacks since it is as easy to unintentionally introduce new vulnerabilities into web applications as it is to intentionally introduce new functionality. Consequently, web applications have increasingly been the focus of attackers.
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While we are enormously pleased with Python as a programming language for introductory classes, we did note a few issues which were awkward or confusing to Intro students. We want to make it clear in discussing these issues that we are only speaking from the point of view of novice programmers. Experienced programmers might well have very different views.
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The .NET Framework is an integral Windows component that supports building and running the next generation of applications and XML Web services. The .NET Framework is designed to fulfill the following objectives:
• To provide a consistent object-oriented programming environment whether object code is stored and executed locally, executed locally but Internet-distributed, or executed remotely.
• To provide a code-execution environment that minimizes software deployment and versioning conflicts.
• To provide a code-execution environment that promotes safe execution of code, including code created by an unknown or semi-trusted third party.
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Many IT organizations view the phrase Web 2.0 as either just marketing hype that is devoid of any meaning or they associate it exclusively with social networking sites such as MySpace. That’s understandable as Web 2.0 is not the same as a new protocol that has an associated RFC that spells out definitively what is and what is not included as part of the protocol. As a result, many concepts get lumped under the banner of Web 2.0. In one of the most insightful analyses of Web 2.0, Tim Reilly points out that Web 2.0 involves fundamentally new design patterns and business models and he compares companies that were successful with Web 1.0 with those companies that are leading the movement to Web 2.0.
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In this whitepaper, we will make a powerful comparison between the two choices that businesses have for building XML-based web services: the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) 1, built by Sun Microsystems and other industry players, and Microsoft.NET 2, built by Microsoft Corporation. Some of the statements we make will offend you, and hopefully more of them will agree with you. So as you read this paper, please remember our three promises:
1. We promise to compare these choices at a logical, neutral, and unbiased level.
2. We promise to tell the tale about how we really do feel about these technologies.
3. We promise to dispel the Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD) that exists in the marketplace today.
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