John Swenson
MSDN Online
October 27, 1997
When I heard that Microsoft was introducing yet another new term to describe yet another new architecture at its Professional Developers Conference in San Diego in September, I groaned. Not another complex new technology, I thought when I first heard about Windows DNA. But as I asked around Microsoft over the past month, I learned that Windows DNA actually is aimed at simplifying Microsoft's message to developers, and cutting through some of the complexity that already exists.
Windows DNA, or Windows Distributed interNet Application Architecture, doesn't describe just one product or technology. It is a framework that defines how at least a dozen different Microsoft products and even more technologies fit together. You don't need to learn them all to understand Windows DNA. (If you do want the details, see the Technologies section of our Windows DNA Web site [http://www.microsoft.com/sitebuilder/dna/default.asp].) Instead of just throwing all these products and technologies at developers and making them figure out what to do with it all, Windows DNA provides instructions.
Windows DNA, at its core, is about integrating Web and client-server models of computing. If you plan to use the Web in any way to build distributed applications, the Windows DNA architecture can help you. Windows DNA describes how developers can take advantage of all the distributed application services, distributed infrastructure services, and common interfaces of the Windows platform, together with a lot of useful Web technologies.
If that sounds rather broad, you're right. "Windows DNA is really a conceptual model, an architecture," explains Gary Voth, a group manager in Microsoft's Platform Marketing division. "In some ways, we're trying to paint a big picture for people. Although there are all these rapidly evolving technologies, Windows DNA tries to do a few simple things in your application: leverage HTML and scripting, build COM components, and take advantage of Windows system services."
Windows DNA is not just for developers, but also for development managers and strategic planners within large organizations. Microsoft wants to help these people who look at big architectural issues see where the Windows platform is headed. Windows DNA is like a map to help developers, technology planners, and IS managers avoid getting lost in the details of Microsoft's many operating systems, tools, technologies, and applications.
Windows DNA maps out the framework for building scaleable, three-tier distributed applications that can run over any network, including the Web. Microsoft didn't invent modern three-tiered distributed applications, but it's making it easier for developers to build them. The many technologies under the Windows DNA umbrella can help developers create applications for all three tiers: navigation and user interface, business processes, and data storage. The user interface might be a Windows DNA client application that runs in a Web browser. The business process might be a Windows DNA application that runs on a Web server. Data storage could be handled by a Windows DNA application running on almost any type of computer, from PC server to mainframe.
Developers can use any language or tool to create all these applications, since Windows DNA is based on COM and open Internet standards. COM provides a language-independent object model that lets applications interoperate at all tiers of the architecture, while Internet standards ensure that many Windows DNA applications are cross platform.
Windows DNA is all about integrating the Web with client-server and desktop computing. Marketing people often overuse the term "next generation," but Windows DNA really does fit the term. It's a comprehensive architecture for building and deploying the next generation of Web-enabled, connected applications.
Notice I didn't say Windows applications. Not every application that conforms to the Windows DNA architecture has to be a Windows application, since the architecture also encompasses Web standards, not just Microsoft's own technologies. Some of the technologies in Windows DNA, such as Dynamic HTML, can even run on the Macintosh and UNIX platforms (through Internet Explorer 4.0).
So is Windows DNA an architecture for building applications today or a strategic roadmap for how to build them in the future? It's both. Windows DNA provides a unifying framework that describes how applications can take advantage of the integrated distributed services already built into Windows (such as transaction processing, security, and directory services). It also helps developers prepare for the many new services Microsoft will be delivering over the next couple of years.
To understand Windows DNA, don't make the same mistake I did of getting too caught up in trying to understand and define its many pieces. Just think big picture. Remember, if your application has anything to do with combining desktop or client-server computing with Internet standards, the Windows DNA architecture can help you plan which road to take.