Mule - An Open-Source Comms Framework / ESB

Friends -

Got turned on to this down at UCSD last week: <http:// 
mule.codehaus.org/>.

Mule is an open-source messaging framework for Java... an easy XML- 
configurable way to turn Plain Old Java Objects (POJOs) into network- 
facing services using SOAP (Axis), e-mail, Jabber, ordinary HTTP and  
HTTPS, JMS, JDBC, IP Multicast and other protocols.  (Reportedly it's  
named Mule because it takes a lot of the donkey-work out of building  
networked applications.)

For buzzword-compliance Mule is described as an Enterprise Service  
Bus (ESB).  That's arguably true, but I'd say Mule is, if anything,  
something better.  Many of the current crop of commercial ESBs seem  
to threaten a new generation of vendor lock-in enforced by  
proprietary products and processor-centric architectures.  Mule  
supports both server-based ESBs and network-centric Enterprise  
Service Nets (ESNs) and keeps the architecture open either way.

Thanks to CalIT2's Stephen Pasco for the pointer.

- Art