Warewolf ESB opens code base for C# developers | Hacker News Reader

Warewolf ESB opens code base for C# developers

warewolf.io

11 pointsWarewolf-ESB15 comments

"Build software 400% faster. Warewolf is a flow-based programming platform that allows you to build software applications 400% faster. This means you can achieve in 3 months what would normally take you a year. It’s as simple as drag, drop and configure with reusable components and prebuilt services."

As someone who has dealt with NServiceBus, AppFabric, Windows Workflow, BizTalk and various IBM and Tibco piles of randomness etc, I have one word: nope.

The three phases of ESB are:

1. Optimism and ease of use. Much like your blog tutorial in rails, it lures you in and makes it look easy.

2. Then there's the deployment phase, where you realise it actually hurts. This happens the second deployment when contracts are updated etc and you enter contract versioning hell. There are contracts however loose your API says it is.

3. Paralysis. No one wants to change the messaging layer because the cost of doing so is unadulterated pain and friction, so everyone works around it.

This is all "in my experience" but that is perhaps unfortunately vast (several companies) and negative.

An alternative: I don't think there is one for large systems but don't get your hopes up until you've been using something for a couple of years.

ESB = Erroneous Spaghetti Box

That's a wonderful description and right on the mark :)

This is exactly the point! We're also tired of the complicated, messy service buses our team has worked with. That's why we're going after making it simple, easy to work with and valuable to any developer or business.

Bring your passion and get involved at https://github.com/Warewolf-ESB/Warewolf-ESB

Looks like WSO2 which our CTO recommended, the thing I find with all these ESBs, is you don't want drag and drop, you want the moving parts of the system and understand them, not hide them all behind a TLA.

Thanks for your feedback re. drag and drop. We're looking for all the user feedback we can get, feel free to make use of the community forum as well: http://community.warewolf.io Thanks again

Thanks for your feedback. We'd really love to harness your experience if you're willing to try the application. You can get a compiled version at http://warewolf.io or get it directly from GitHub https://github.com/Warewolf-ESB/Warewolf-ESB/

I'm definitely trying it. If you have solved the aforementioned problems then I'm interested.

Great! Please feel free to leave feedback in the community forum - http://community.warewolf.io Thanks again

Googling for "Warewolf" is not a pleasant experience.

Step one is to turn off the typo correction to "Werewolf".

Step two is wade through the people who can't even spell "werewolf", e.g. "How can i become a warewolf? - Yahoo Answers"

It's true! We need to get this piece right. Thanks for your feedback.

In fairness, if your project becomes wildly popular, then Google will correct this for you automatically.

Is there a way to succeed with a new ESB without going open-source by default nowadays?

It's a good point!

We wrote a blog post on a similar thing: http://warewolf.io/ESB-blog/6-reasons-take-software-open-sou...

All in all, we like the open source approach - it's a great win all round and seems to be the future of tech.

In any mature tool category where there are good open-source products, it is going to be hard to launch a new paid-for product.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com