What Is Middleware? The Essential Bridge Connecting Your Applications

I’ve often wondered what it would be like to have a personal assistant. They could shop for me, take my calls, reply to emails, and manage my entire schedule.

A few years ago, I realized that, even though my dream of having a personal assistant may never come true, middleware actually provides a similar function in the world of software.

Middleware is a piece of software that runs as an intermediary layer between two pieces of other software or applications.

The goal of middleware is to act as a bridge so that each separate piece of software can work together without hindering their original functions.

When I looked closer, I realized that middleware is, in fact, the personal assistant of the software world. It’s the behind-the-scenes workhorse that ensures operating systems interact properly with applications.

It allows for communications between multiple systems, and it can even facilitate complex interactions for APIs and data integrations.

Keep reading as I explain everything you need to know about middleware and how it can help you in your business and personal life.

Here’s another straightforward way to think about middleware: glue. With all the software on a computer, it needs binding. It’s all mashed into one piece of hardware, yet none of them are technically designed to work together. Hence, we have middleware.

More specifically, middleware functions as what’s called an abstraction layer. This means that it takes a bunch of complex interactions — those happening between multiple software components — and simplifies them greatly.

Data management, communication, and service coordination — it all happens seamlessly thanks to middleware.

And as a result, you don’t have to worry about trying to figure out how to make your Windows operating system work properly with an application like Photoshop. The default middleware on your Microsoft computer handles the integration in the background.

Just as you may use different types of glue to bind certain materials — like wood glue for wood and epoxy for metals — it makes sense that there are multiple types of middleware to bring together the myriad of software options available in the world.

In this section, I’ll talk about the most common types of middleware.

Object Middleware

As software that facilitates communications between objects — usually in a distributed system — object middleware works sort of like a translator for object-oriented languages.

In short, the middleware makes it so that two completely different systems can interact and communicate as if fully integrated. Some examples of object middleware include Remote Method Invocation (RMI) and Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA).

Message-Oriented Middleware (MOM)

I like to consider Message-Oriented Middleware as the postal office for software.

It takes communications that may occur between distributed systems and ensures they get translated and sent to the right recipients (other software).

Here’s an example: At an old job, my company wanted to integrate a new, cloud-based app with legacy software — two items that usually wouldn’t play well together.

Luckily, we were able to use MOM to allow for the seamless swapping of communications between the two.

Transaction Middleware

When you have two transactional applications and they need to work together, transaction middleware manages all of those transactions. It ensures the highest level of data integrity while also working to protect transactional data from bad actors.

Think of transaction middleware as the accountant of software. For instance, products such as Tuxedo help handle transactions regardless of the currencies and banks involved.

Database Middleware

As you may have assumed from the name, database middleware works with databases. But it doesn’t just link two databases together.

Rather, database middleware binds a database and another application, allowing the application to retrieve and manipulate data.

I’d say the best analogy is that of database middleware as a librarian. The middleware locates the appropriate data based on what an application requests through a query.

This way, the application doesn’t have to complete any of the work for finding and retrieving data.

Web Middleware

There must be middleware that helps applications interact with web servers. When an application’s servers need to reach out to a web server, web middleware comes into play in managing HTTP requests and all the responses that follow.

The best, most common type of web middleware is an API gateway, which sends and accepts HTTP requests and directs traffic between web servers and applications.

You don’t usually see middleware in action. Similar to a chef in the back of a restaurant, they’re hard at work facilitating a quality meal for patrons, all without speaking with or seeing the patrons themselves.

Yet, it pays to understand how middleware works. This way, you gain a strong grasp of its importance and can even troubleshoot or implement middleware on your own.

Here’s how middleware works:

1. Routing messages: Middleware takes messages between applications and ensures that they get to the right places.
2. Translating protocols: It translates languages for applications so they’re always able to communicate.
3. Transforming data: Middleware has the ability to reformat data. This way, one application can read data from another application, even if the previous application used a completely different type of formatting.
4. Coordinating integrations: It orchestrates smooth connections between applications and services. As a result, the processes completed by these applications run efficiently.

Finally, it’s important to know that middleware has two main types of architectures: the client-server model and microservices.

With the client-server model, middleware sits in the middle of the client and server to make communications smoother. For microservices, middleware handles communications between various services that run within a single application.

Whenever I use software, I’ve come to appreciate just how crucial it is to have reliable middleware.

Not only is the middleware market filled with options for all types of software, but all of them act as universal translators to combine a wide range of the technologies you use on a daily basis. Middleware has even more benefits, too.

In my web development years, I ran into middleware regularly. Developers rely on middleware for merging infrastructures and ensuring their applications work in the large ecosystem of software we have today. As for the times middleware works best, here’s a list I’ve put together of the most common use cases.

Enterprise Application Integration (EAI)

For Enterprise Application Integration (EAI), middleware plays a significant role in bringing together multiple enterprise software items.

As an example, I find that middleware comes in handy for enterprises to connect HR, ERP, and CRM systems, all of which come from different developers. As a result, middleware delivers a more seamless flow of information between these platforms.

Microservices Architecture

A cloud-native application usually functions with help from dozens, if not hundreds or thousands, or “microservices.” These microservices must interact and communicate with one another, so middleware helps complete that job.

The goal here is to ensure that all the smaller elements within one application work well, hence the “microservices” name.

IoT Systems

An IoT (Internet of Things) system often refers to a smart home setup or essentially any system of automated, tech-oriented devices interacting with one another inside a building.

Middleware is used to connect IoT systems allowing for data transfer and communication between them.

Both hardware and software are involved with an IoT system — and many of the devices come from different manufacturers. Therefore, middleware enables data transferring and communications between all of those IoT devices and the applications that come with them.

In fact, there are thousands of gaps that need bridging in an IoT system. It all starts with user authentication, which middleware handles. Then there’s session management, API integrations, and any instance where one item communicates with another — like if a motion sensor tells a light to turn on.

As with all technology, middleware comes with its challenges. There’s the complexity involved with adding middleware to a project, along with issues like vendor lock-in and performance overhead. I’ll explain each common challenge to help you plan for them in the future.

Complexity

Earlier in this article, I explained how middleware acts similarly to a chef in the back kitchen of a restaurant. This analogy also works well for one of the main challenges of middleware.

What if you’re not ready to add a new chef to your kitchen? It’s possible you already have an infrastructure in place. Would an extra chef (or a tool like middleware) make things far too complicated?

In short, middleware adds another layer of software to your system architecture. That means it becomes more complex. It should, theoretically, make things more efficient, but you still need someone to manage that extra middleware component.

Performance Overhead

Much like when my wife and I are both trying to cook something in the kitchen — and the speed at which we cook could slow down thanks to a cluttered kitchen — middleware introduces overhead that could affect the performance of your system.

The added layer of middleware is supposed to make things more efficient, but it could introduce latency and performance issues, slowing down the infrastructure if not implemented the right way.

Vendor Lock-In

Vendor lock-in is another issue you may encounter with middleware providers.

I’m already locked into Apple products in my personal life, but that becomes a much more costly issue when we’re talking about middleware.

Since middleware serves as the glue between all of your software, it’s a little risky to commit to one type of middleware to hold all of it together.

Middleware, therefore, can make your software architecture less flexible, especially if you choose middleware without migration options.

Throughout my career, I’ve had the opportunity to explore multiple middleware options.

Some of my favorites work well for combining thousands of applications from a wide range of developers. Others focus more on specific tasks like translating protocols or integrating data and applications.

• Apache Kafka: This middleware comes in handy when I need to integrate applications with real-time data streams. I recommend it for high-volume data usage, particularly for streaming platforms and other distributed systems that may require significant amounts of data in real time.
• IBM MQ: As an enterprise powerhouse, the IBM MQ middleware has the advantage of being able to secure very important, sensitive communications in an efficient manner. It’s best for enterprise organizations with a need for an ironclad messaging facilitator.
• RabbitMQ: Here’s a strong messaging middleware I like to recommend for distributed systems and microservices. It’s flexible and user-friendly and particularly useful for translating a wide range of messaging protocols between applications.
• MuleSoft: Perhaps the most flexible of the middleware options on this list, I’ve seen MuleSoft implemented to connect various services and applications. It delivers tools for API management, along with ESB and iPaaS capabilities. In short, it’s the easiest middleware for a developer to integrate any app with a server or other app, all thanks to its flexibility.

As you’re figuring out the best middleware solution for your project, please keep in mind the differences between open-source and commercial middleware options.

An open-source solution (like RabbitMQ or Apache Kafka), for instance, can help your organization save money and take advantage of a strong community of contributors.

A commercial middleware — like MuleSoft or IBM MQ — may cost more, but you often get a user-friendly experience with reliable customer support. Not to mention, you receive features flexible enough for any business.

With so much at risk, it’s imperative to pick the right middleware at the beginning. It’s too common to see vendor lock-in or issues with compatibility down the road, so I encourage you to spend a long period of time testing out middleware and never taking the decision lightly.

Middleware is the foundation of your project. The glue that holds it all together. So, here’s what to look at to choose the right one:

1. Scalability: Whenever going through middleware options, I like to consider my future growth plans. It’s imperative that you factor in the potential for scaling and choose middleware that accommodates that plan.
2. Compatibility: The middleware you pick should align with the current systems you currently use. Look at your operating systems, software, applications, and the other tools you plan to integrate with middleware.
3. Performance: Not all middleware is made the same when it comes to performance. Consider commercial middleware for large-scale enterprise applications that need real-time data access. Open-source solutions offer high performance potential, too, but much of it depends on if you properly implement the middleware.
4. Security: Bringing in another software to tie together your other applications could cause security issues with that added layer. Therefore, I highly recommend looking for middleware options that come with robust security measures. This way, you protect your applications, services, and the data within those systems.
5. Cost: Although I try not to harp on cost too much, it’s always a factor when picking a middleware. There’s no doubt that some middleware options are simply too expensive for certain organizations. So, you should evaluate how much it’ll cost to implement the middleware, then combine that with ongoing costs to understand if a middleware solution fits into your budget.
6. Community: What happens when you have an issue with your middleware? Can you call a support team or reach out to a community? Finding middleware with a solid community behind it is not only about customer support, though. It also shows that you can expect updates and feature releases in the future. And that it should stay around for a long period of time.

Your unique business needs truly dictate the path you take when picking out a middleware solution. Do you have specific technical requirements? What’s necessary from the middleware to ensure your business, and the project itself, remains efficient?

As homework, I want you to make an extensive list of requirements before researching middleware. After that, conduct various tests to see which middleware works best in your system.

It may sound like a bit of a stretch when I call it a “revolution.” Middleware seems so boring, doesn’t it? But even though it runs in the background, there’s no denying how far middleware has come to help developers piece together complicated applications and services to work together.

Not long ago, I never would’ve even attempted to combine HR software with a completely different CRM. I can say the same thing about APIs. It seems like just about every piece of software you find online has the ability to integrate with other software thanks to API tools and middleware.

As we move into the future, I expect to see even more growth in the middleware sector. So, be sure to understand it the best you can to prepare for what’s coming.