Build a future solution!

A public, commercial, organisation or private need for information or organization can sometimes be solved by applying a computer solution. This solution can be a mix of forms, reports, applications, files, databases and external systems. All these components are often tailored and tuned to the specific need at hand, at great development costs. Some components may be generic enough to be reused in other solutions, enabling big cost savings.

With the popularization of open source, reuse of larger components happens far more frequently than earlier. Distinctly functional bordered components like plotting, xml reading, logging, reporting and database communication are popular reusable components that benefits many solutions. These are relatively easily exchanged with similar solutions. More complex web component frameworks (in Java) like Spring, JSF, Struts and others binds the solution to their structure and thus partition solutions into incompatible structures. That's why we do not call them components but rather platform, to denote such solutions' strong dependability on a certain structure. These software platforms come on top of other platforms, like operating systems and computer hardware.

Looking far into the future, how would we build a cheap solution in a world with much more advanced platforms and components? Since the future is still for us to build, we can assume any platform and any component we need can be found, freeing us to focus on building the cheap solution.  How would you make your solution?

I have found my solution and I'm building it as an open source project on Google Code repository. With only myself as client and given my current pace, I will use several years to show a truly ingenious solution. However, the solution will be finished with perfect timing; when I'm satisfied. That's just half the truth though. Unless I will be able to use it for some purposes along the way, it wouldn't be as much fun. ;-)