An integration platform for heterogeneous bioinformatics software components

Although computer programs and database resources for bioinformatics applic ations are becoming more widely available, these resources are unstandardiz ed and frequently incompatible. The problem of integrating heterogeneous so ftware is of immense importance to the field, especially because a rapid pa ce of change and a general scarcity of development resources discourage re- engineering and compel developers to find ways to use legacy resources. In this paper, we describe an approach to the problem of integration of hetero geneous bioinformatics resources that relies on a generalized software plat form, written in the Java (TM) language, that we call ISYS (TM). The ISYS p latform employs techniques for interoperation among loosely coupled compone nts, such as brokered service exchange and mediated event exchange, that ar e increasingly common in software engineering but still not used widely in bioinformatics. In addition, it further promotes loose coupling of independ ent components through a flexible, semistructured data model that supports run-time association of attributes with objects, and allows different compo nents to maintain different "views" of the same object. We describe our gen eral approach, the architecture of the system, the mechanics of event and s ervice exchange, and the implementation of the data model. The platform is not restricted in ifs utility to bioinformatics, and could be useful for an y rapidly changing field in which the integration of heterogeneous legacy c omponents is important.