January 05, 2005

Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS) article - Really good article on a REALLY GREAT technology

XML.com: Fun With Amazon's Simple Queue Service

3 things I like about this article:

- Brief yet concise [Huh? Lets try that again...] Simple and concise technical overview.
- Well positioned base for the code sample - A chat application
- The fact that this comes from Amazon (further explanation as to why I say this in the extended entry portion of this post)

I'm not quite sure what is meant when the author states:

"by using an XML-over-HTTP (what Amazon calls a REST) interface".

I think its safe to say the author (Jason Leavitt) is familiar with the REST web services architecture so I can only assume he is suggesting that what Amazon is calling REST in his opinion is not what REST actually is? Which I guess makes could makes sense depending on the use of XML-over-HTTP that precedes his statement but I think that's maybe a question for Jason... As I have learned from past bad experiences its not good to make judgements on an articles content (even in more of a clarification manner as would be in this case) after a quick and simple scan as you may come to realize later after you have made such judgement that the articles author in fact pointed out the errors himself in the article but left them in place to make a particular point. Not a good way to win friends and influence people! I advise against it to anyone considering such an activity on their own blog. ;) :D

Ok, moving forward.

So, why the Amazon comment? Couple reasons.

- First and foremost Amazon is a Seattle-based company. Being native to the area I love companies such as Amazon that help boost the economy and bring good jobs to the part of the world in which will always be my home, no matter where I may live at any given time due to the contract I am working on or the consulting gig I have taken.

- Jeff Bar, Amazons Web Services Evangelist, Kicks A$$! Were you aware that he wakes up at 5:30 a.m. each and every day of the week so that he can work on Syndic8, his "side" project which is a gigantic XML feed syndication site. Beyond indexing and archiving the web's latest and greatest content the site offers a huge amount of value in the statistics made available that cover subjects such as "most popular blog feeds" and "the top sites they would like to see syndicated" (currently sitting at 5719.) You can find the percentage of RSS to Atom feeds in syndication that is then further broken down to the base language of the feed, types and numbers of XML encodings used, and even a "feed quality" section that contains information in regards to how many of the feeds contain particular RSS/Atom elements such as "Feeds with Editors", "Feed with Webmasters", "Feeds with Languages", "Feeds with Descriptions", etc... And this is only the tippy-tippy-top of an absolutey huge iceberg. There is a serious amount of information on this site and its well worth adding it to your daily scan of the web by at very least adding the following feeds to your reader:

OCS http://www.syndic8.com/genfeed.php?Format=ocs
OPML http://www.syndic8.com/genfeed.php?Format=opml
RSS http://www.syndic8.com/genfeed.php?Format=rss

The one thing I think that impresses me the most about Jeff is that he has truly, in every sense of the word, wrapped himself inside of the technologies that he evangelizes and because of his passions he is further enabled to truly understand what web users want and need which is then showcased by his influence on the Web Services offered by Amazon. I love to see passion in people in regards to what they do in life and Jeff is without a doubt a picture perfect example of someone who loves what he does and turns that love into REALLY USEFUL TECHNOLOGIES.

- Beyond the fact that Amazon helps Seattle economy and Jeff Barr kicks A$$ I love the fact that Amazon at a very early stage embraced the web communities, encouraging interaction and promoting the use of their interface and products by also allowing members (membership is free) to sell their own products which in some ways (like used books) compete directly with the products they have in their own catalog. When this idea was first introduced it really sent people spinning and back pedaling from Wall Streets e-commerce sweetheart of the late 90's. But what Jeff Bezos and the rest of the crew at Amazon realized and then showcased by such a bold move was that this was what the web was all about and to be the leader of the e-commerce world you had to embrace what the web was all about: community. By understanding this one very crucial point at an early stage Amazon positioned themselves to continue moving forward as a leader and innovator on the web, acting as a beacon of sort's for others to look to for direction. Bottom-line: Amazon simply gets it.

If you don't think that SQS is a sign of things bigger and better to come from Amazons Web Services division, well theres nothing I can do to keep you from feeling as such. But I can assure you of one thing: Of the few things I know in regards to the Amazon Web Services team I can assure you that what is coming out the door now is only a small sample of what will be available in the future. And its not like I have any sort of exclusive insider knowledge... You can access the Amazon Web Services division weblog right here.