IBM® Cross-Organizational Application Collage Programming Model is based on a uniform, end-to-end, RDF (Resource Description Framework) data model and data-driven execution model. This programming model has flexible support for cross-organizational, finely-tuned composition of both application and user interface (UI) components, and it uses recursive MVC (Model View Controller) as an encapsulation mechanism.

How does it work?

The examples in the package illustrate the following aspects of the language:

• Simplification: A single declarative language supports enterprise, Web, and client applications, hence reducing complexity from multiple redundant abstractions.
• Evolution: The RDF-based approach used in our programming model does not impose encapsulation as strictly as in traditional object-oriented languages. We are exploring whether this more "white box" approach to components increases their flexibility for subsequent reuse without requiring refactoring or redesign.
• Composition and distribution: Our hypothesis is that cross-organizational composition and the attendant distribution of components are easier using declarative, data-driven programming models than using procedural or object-oriented languages.
• Device adaptation: Dealing with the variety of end-user interaction devices has long been a challenge for UI frameworks. Our approach is to reuse a uniform set of programming concepts throughout an application, from back end to front end, rather than to use an ad hoc framework specific to this "last-mile" problem.

Bruce Lucas completed his Ph.D. in computer vision at Carnegie-Mellon University (CMU) in 1984; he then worked for two years at CMU on the Andrew windowing system. He joined the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center in 1986 and worked on a variety of computer graphics projects. Dr. Lucas was a principal designer and developer for IBM's Data Explorer, a scientific visualization system. He joined the speech group in 1995, working on grammar development tools. Dr. Lucas has worked closely with Sun on the design of the Java™ Speech API and on IBM's implementation of it. He was the lead designer and developer for IBM's Speech Mark-up Language and VoiceXML browsers. He has been IBM's representative to the VoiceXML Forum and the W3C Voice Browser working group, as well as co-author of, and major contributor to, the VoiceXML 1.0 and 2.0 and related specifications. Dr. Lucas has also worked on issues of Web-based UI composition, contributing to the OASIS WSRP specification. Recently he has been working in the area of new Web-oriented programming models, such as IBM Cross-Organizational Application Collage Programming Model.

Rahul Akolkar works in the Programming Models and Tools department at IBM's T. J. Watson Research Center in N.Y. He is also active in open-source projects, primarily in the Apache Software Foundation.

Charlie Wiecha is manager of the Multichannel Web Interaction group in the Programming Models and Tools department at IBM Research in Hawthorne, N. Y. He is interested in declarative languages for both visual and voice interaction in Web applications, as well as in radical simplification through the use of common languages for both UI and application design.