About The Authors
Douglas C. Schmidt
Dr. Douglas Schmidt is an Associate Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at the University of California, Irvine, USA. He is also serving as a Program Manager in the Information Technology Office (ITO) at DARPA, leading the national research effort on middleware. Before this he was an Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Distributed Object Computing in the Department of Computer Science at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. His research focuses on design patterns, optimization principles, and empirical analyses of object-oriented techniques that facilitate the development of high-performance and real-time distributed object computing middleware running over high-speed networks and embedded system interconnects.
Doug is an internationally-recognized expert on distributed object computing patterns, middleware frameworks, real-time CORBA, and open-source development. He has published widely in top technical journals, conferences, and books. He was editor of the C++ Report magazine for several years and has co-edited several popular books on patterns [PLoPD1] and frameworks [FJS99a] [FJS99b]. In addition to his academic research, Doug has led the development of ACE and TAO, which are widely-used open-source middleware frameworks that contain a rich set of reusable components implemented using the patterns presented in this book.
In his ‘spare’ time, he enjoys ballroom dancing with his wife Sonja, weight-lifting, guitar playing, world history, and Chevrolet Corvettes.
Michael Stal
Michael Stal joined the Corporate Technology department of Siemens AG in Munich, Germany in 1991. In his previous work he gained extensive experience developing software for compilers and computer graphics. He worked on runtime type information for C++ and served on the C++ standardization group X3J16. Since 1992 Michael’s work has focused on the development of concurrent and distributed object-oriented systems using Sockets, CORBA, COM, and Java. Michael is Siemens’ primary contact on CORBA at the OMG and is head of the Distributed Object Computing Group at Siemens’s Corporate Technology department. He co-authored the first POSA volume A System of Patterns.
Michael’s main research interests focus on methods for developing distributed systems efficiently and on patterns for describing the architecture of middleware platforms. In this context he has published articles in many magazines and given talks at many conferences. In addition, he is Editor-in-Chief of Java Spektrum, the major German magazine on the Java platform, as well as a columnist and member of the advisory board for Objektspektrum, the major German magazine on object technology.
In his spare time Michael attends soccer matches, supports his favorite team Bayern München, visits Munich beer gardens, tries to prevent his cats from destroying his apartment, watches movies, and reads books on physics, philosophy and humor. He is fan of Douglas Adams, Scott Adams, and Terry Pratchett.
Hans Rohnert
Dr. Hans Rohnert is a Senior Software Engineer at the Communication Devices business unit of Siemens AG in Munich, Germany. His primary aims are exploiting promising software technologies and introducing them into new products, such as next-generation mobile phones. His professional interests are software architecture, design patterns, and real-world programming. He has presented numerous talks on subjects ranging from dynamic graph algorithms to embedded Java virtual machines.
Hans is currently a member of the expert groups defining the small footprint KVM Java virtual machine and its libraries for use in small devices. His programming projects have included server-side modules for embedded servers, work flow in C++, base support for ATM switching, Java GUI front-ends for CORBA clients, and HTTP clients. He is also a co-author of the first POSA volume A System of Patterns and a co-editor of the fourth book in the PLoPD series [PLoPD4]. As a graduate student he performed original research on combinatorial algorithms, publishing and lecturing on them early in his career.
Hans is an ambitious tennis player, with more matches lost than won. He also enjoys exploring the nearby mountains, rock-climbing, and cross-country skiing. His most important ‘hobby’, however, is his family, most notably a new baby born during the hectic final phase of writing this book.
Frank Buschmann
Frank Buschmann is Principal Senior Software Engineer at Siemens Corporate Technology in Munich, Germany. His research interests include object technology, software architecture, frameworks, and patterns. He has published widely in all these areas, most visibly in his co-authorship of the first POSA volume A System of Patterns. Frank was a member of the ANSI C++ standardization committee X3J16 from 1992 to 1996. Frank initiated and organized the first conference on patterns held in Europe, EuroPLoP 1996, and is also a co-editor of the third book in the PLoPD series [PLoPD3]. In his development work Frank has led design and implementation efforts for several large-scale industrial software projects, including business information, industrial automation, and telecommunication systems.
When not at work Frank spends most of his time enjoying life with his wife Martina, watching the time go by in Munich beer gardens, having fun biking, skiing, and horse-riding, getting excited when watching his favorite soccer team Borussia Dortmund, dreaming when listening to a performance at the Munich opera, and relaxing with rare Scotch single malts before bedtime.