Definitions
From RoSta
The following is a recitation of a small part of the result produced by querying google with "define+middleware":
Middleware
- is a communications layer that allows applications to interact across hardware and network environments. link
- is any code or software that serves to combine two separate and existing programs. link
- is software that “glues together” two or more types of software (eg, two applications, their operating systems and the network on which everything works), by translating information between them and exchanging this information over a network without both interacting applications being aware of the middleware. So, middleware facilitates development for network distributed software, by supporting transparancy of the reuse of software modules. ... link
- is software designed to integrate separate software and/or hardware systems. Middleware provides the communication between the separate systems. link
- is software that is neither part of the operating system, nor an application. It occupies a layer between the two, providing applications with an interface for receiving services. Common examples are communications programs and transaction processing monitors. link
- is software that helps diverse software programs and networked computer systems work together, thus promoting their interoperability. link
- consists of software agents acting as an intermediary between different application components. It is used most often to support complex, distributed applications. The software agents involved may be one or many. link
Software architecture
- of a program or computing system is the structure or structures of the system, which comprise software elements, the externally visible properties of those elements, and the relationships among them (see L. Bass, P. Clements, R. Kazman. Software Architecture in Practice).
