A unifying foundation to design and implement process-aware information systems This publication takes on the formidable task of establishing a unifying foundation and set of common underlying principles to effectively model, design, and implement process-aware information systems. Authored by leading authorities and pioneers in the field, Process-Aware Information Systems helps readers gain a thorough understanding of major concepts, languages, and techniques for building process-aware applications, including: * UML and EPCs: two of the most widely used notations for business process modeling * Concrete techniques for process design and analysis * Process execution standards: WfMC and BPEL * Representative commercial tools: ARIS, TIBCO Staffware, and FLOWer Each chapter begins with a description of the problem domain and then progressively unveils relevant concepts and techniques. Examples and illustrations are used extensively to clarify and simplify complex material. Each chapter ends with a set of exercises, ranging from simple questions to thought-provoking assignments. Sample solutions for many of the exercises are available on the companion Web site. Armed with a new and deeper understanding, readers are better positioned to make their own contributions to the field and evaluate various approaches to a particular task or problem. This publication is recommended as a textbook for graduate and advanced undergraduate students in computer science and information systems, as well as for professionals involved in workflow and business process management, groupware and teamwork, enterprise application integration, and business-to-business integration. A Solution's Manual is available online. An Instructor Support FTP site is also available.

Programming WCF Services is the authoritative, bestselling introduction to Microsoft's unified platform for developing service-oriented applications (SOA) on Windows. Hailed as the most definitive treatment of WCF available, this relentlessly practical book provides insight, not documentation, to help you learn the topics and skills you need for building WCF-based applications that are maintainable, extensible, and reusable. Author Juval Lowy, Microsoft software legend and participant in WCF's original strategic design review, revised this new edition for the latest productivity-enhancing features of C# 3.0 and the .NET 3.5 SP1 Framework. The book also contains Lowy's ServiceModelEx, a framework of useful utilities, tools, and helper classes that let you simplify and automate many tasks, and extend WCF as well. With this book, you will: Learn about WCF architecture and essential building blocks, including key concepts such as reliability and transport session Use built-in features such as service hosting, instance management, concurrency management, transactions, disconnected queued calls, and security Take advantage of relevant design options, tips, and best practices in Lowy's ServiceModelEx framework to increase your productivity and the quality of your WCF services Learn the rationale behind particular design decisions, and discover poorly documented and little-understood aspects of SOA development By teaching you the "why" along with the "how" of WCF programming, Programming WCF Services not only will help you master WCF, it will enable you to become a better software engineer.

Cloud storage services and NoSQL systems typically offer only "Eventual Consistency", a rather weak guarantee covering a broad range of potential data consistency behavior. The degree of actual (in-)consistency, however, is unknown. This work presents novel solutions for determining the degree of (in-)consistency via simulation and benchmarking, as well as the necessary means to resolve inconsistencies leveraging this information.

In Secrets of Greatness, Dr Burrell provides us with a route map to success of the very highest order, consistent with the greatest model of success known to us, Jesus Christ. Based upon an intimate study of the Old and New Testaments, and a lifetime’s work as a pastor, and drawing together such disparate threads as psychology, biology, history and motivational dynamics, Dr Burrell gives his readers a meticulous and definitive explanation of the essence of greatness and how it is within the capability of each and every one of us to achieve more than we ever thought possible. A thorough and passionate exploration of what it means to be great, using examples of great men and women through the ages, Secrets of Greatness decries the notion that true success lies in power, money and status, and illustrates instead that the pinnacle of human achievement is attainable only through the transformative and healing power of our relationship with God. In each chapter and section, the author shines a light on a different aspect of the process of becoming what we are destined to be in the Creator’s great plan for us, and illuminates the spaces through which we all must travel on our journey to greatness. Dr Burrell explores his subject with the keen mind of a scholar, the compassion of a man of God and the tenacity of a warrior, and has written a book which is as uplifting as it is useful. It is a book which can only fill us with hope for the future. Secrets of Greatness is a corrective for our secular age – a spiritual book in materialistic times - and a tonic for all those who thirst for a different measure of success than is commonly presented in our media.

This book comprehensively illustrates quality-ware scheduling in key-value stores. In addition, it provides scheduling strategies and a prototype framework of quality-aware scheduler as well as a demonstration of online applications. The book offers a rich blend of theory and practice which is suitable for students, researchers and practitioners interested in distributed systems, NoSQL key-value stores and scheduling.

A Philosophy of Landscape Construction outlines a philosophy of values in landscape construction, demonstrating how integral structures, such as pavements and walls, constitute a key element to how people interact with and inhabit the final design. The book discusses how these structures enable, assist and care for people, negotiating between the dynamic processes of site ecosystems and the soil on which they are founded. They articulate spatial, functional, cultural and ecological meanings. Within this theoretical framework, designers will learn to recognize and insert a set of core values into the most technical design stages to reach their full potential. By offering a new perspective on landscape construction, moving away from the exclusively technical characteristics, this book allows landscape architects to realise the ideal vision for their designs. It is abundantly illustrated with examples from which designers can learn both successes and failures and will be an essential companion to any study of built landscapes.