Mark
Baker: Take for example, a blog aggregator. If everybody had
their own interface to their blog, aggregation would be an O(N^2)
task. But luckily they don't, they all make their RSS available
over HTTP GET, a very useful common abstraction. That, plus that
RSS (all four versions 8-) is a common format, provides for O(N)
integration complexity. Key words in that last sentence are
all four versions.
Actually, that isn't so much the problem as all the weblogs out
there that provide well formed versions of their content, but
no discernable schema. This brings rise to such tools as
Cheesegrater and
Portalizer
To get a proper handle on this, we need to capture both
parts of the interface. And to use applicable standards whenever
possible.