WSO2 WSAS -2.3 is out!

WSO2 Web services application server (WSAS) - 2.3 was released yesterday. It was an extremely tough release. We were given the June 10th deadline less than 2 weeks back (on 27th of May). There were major changes happened in core Axis2. We were supposed to ship with Axis2-1.4 which had not been gone through a rigorous QA/test cycle to verify compatibility with WSO2 WSAS. It was one of the most challenging test/QA cycles I have ever gone through. It is obvious that less than 2 weeks are not enough to do a full scale functional/regression test, no option, we had to mange somehow.

Milestone builds were planned to out for QA testing on every friday though it did not happen. There were a lot of regression issues and most of them were uncovered during the initial QA tests. Fixes were getting delayed and some blockers avoided exercising some major features until last moment. Worked around the clock to complete functional as well as regression testing.
During the last few days 2-3 release candidates were out in a day. :) We had to make sure the regressions are minimum in between RCs. Interoperability with other SOA frameworks such as .NET was one of the major requirements expected from WSAS-2.3 release. Interop test suites were already in place when we started test cycles. However, most of java test suites were out dated, no build scripts or failed in execution. Therefore we had to update some of them/write from scratch.
Automated ant based functional test-framework helped to do quick smoke tests. However, as I expected and believed, good/critical defects were always uncovered during manual tests.

WSAS-2.3 release can be considered as a true TEAM effort. Everyone worked hard to get the things done within the given extremely tough deadline. I'm confident that WSAS-2.3 will also be demonstrated the better product quality as in previous releases though everything done within short time.

Finally our effort and hard work paid off as the interop demo of WSAS was very successful at the Microsofts' TECH ED 2008.

One thing I should mention here is, if the deadline is fixed (if it is not negotiable) and the schedule is very aggressive with limited time allocated for testing, you have to forget some process bullshit and work hard to find more and more BUGS. Yes, Risks are apparent, however you have to set the expectations with your leads making sure everyone understands the constraints/issues clearly.

WSO2 WSAS-2.3 release can be downloaded from http://wso2.org/projects/wsas/java

From the WSO2 WSAS 2.3 - Release Note - 10th June 2008
======================================================

WSO2 WSAS is an enterprise ready Web services engine powered by Apache
Axis2 which offers a complete middleware solution. It is a lightweight,
high performing platform for Service Oriented Architectures, enabling
business logic and applications.
Bringing together a number of Apache Web services projects, WSO2 WSAS
provides a secure, transactional and reliable runtime for deploying and
managing Web services.

Key Features
------------
* Data services support - Expose you enterprise data as a services in a
jiffy
* WSAS IDE - Eclipse IDE integration
* Clustering support for High Availability & High Scalability
* Full support for WS-Security, WS-Trust, WS-Policy and WS-Secure
Conversation and XKMS
* EJB service provider support - Expose your EJBs as services
* Axis1 backward compatibility - Deploy Axis1 services on WSAS & Engage
advanced WS-* protocols in front of legacy services
* JMX & Web interface based monitoring and management
* WS-* & REST support
* GUI, command line & IDE based tools for Web service development


New Features In This Release
----------------------------
* Improved interoperability
* Improved Data Services support
* Various bug fixes to Apache Axis2, Apache Rampart & WSAS
* WSO2 Mercury Integration - A new WS-RM Implementation

Data Services - Bringing Enterprise Data to Web
-----------------------------------------------
* Service enable data locked in relational databases, CSV & Excel files
in no time
* Zero code. Simple descriptor file describes the data to service mapping
* Controlled access to your data
* Customizable XML output
* Benefit from REST & WS-* support
* Built-in Connection pooling support
* Supports exposing Stored procedures & functions
* Built-in caching
* Throttling - to ensure your database is never overloaded.
* Easy configuration via graphical console
* Test your services via Try-it tool

Training
--------

WSO2 Inc. offers a variety of professional Training Programs, including
training on general Web services as well as WSO2 WSAS, Apache Axis2,
Data Services
and a number of other products.

For additional support information please refer to
http://wso2.com/training/course-catalog/


Support
-------

WSO2 Inc. offers a variety of development and production support
programs, ranging from Web-based support up through normal business
hours, to premium 24x7 phone support.

For additional support information please refer to http://wso2.com/support/

For more information on WSO2 WSAS, visit the WSO2 Oxygen Tank
(http://wso2.org)

How to do various things with WSAS - WSAS HOWTO
Series(http://wso2.org/library/2707)

For further information see the full release note
http://wso2.org/project/wsas/java/2.3/docs/release_notes.html

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