The Middleware reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Middleware

Middleware in computing terms is used to describe a software agent acting as an intermediary, or as a member of a group of intermediaries, between different components in a transactional process. The classic example of this is the separation which is attained between the client user and the database in a client/server situation. The reason for introducing middleware in such a situation is to better service client requests by reducing the number of resource-expensive connections to the database and more efficiently passing the requested data back.

Examples of proprietary middleware software include: Tuxedo, Tibco, Mercator, Vitria, ColdFusion. The ObjectWeb consortium is the first world-wide consortium focused on open-source middleware.

The term middleware is often used as a buzzword.

See also: Game engine middleware

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