James Martin (author)
Encyclopedia
James Martin is a British Information Technology consultant and author, who was nominated for a Pulitzer prize for his book, The Wired Society: A Challenge for Tomorrow (1977).
, England. He earned a degree in physics at the Keble College, Oxford
. He was awarded an honorary DSc by Warwick University in July 2009.
Martin joined IBM
in 1959, and since the 1980s established several IT consultancy firms. Starting in 1981 with Dixon Doll and Tony Carter he established DMW (Doll Martin Worldwide) in London, UK, which was later renamed James Martin Associates (JMA), which was (partly) bought by Texas Instruments Software in 1991. He later co-founded Database Design Inc. (DDI), also in Ann Arbor, to promulgate his database design techniques and to develop tools to help implement them. After becoming the market leader in Information Engineering software, DDI was renamed KnowledgeWare and eventually purchased by Fran Tarkenton, who took it public.
He lives on his own private island, Agar’s Island, in Bermuda
. According to Computerworld’s 25th anniversary issue, he was ranked fourth among the 25 individuals who have most influenced the world of computer science.
, Software development methodology
, information engineering
and computer-aided software engineering
. He was one of the first to promote fourth-generation programming language
s, and is the main developer of the Rapid Application Development
methodology.
(IE) is an approach to designing and developing information systems. It has a somewhat chequered history that follows two very distinct threads. It is said to have originated in Australia between 1976 and 1980, and appears first in the literature in 1981 in the Savant Institute publication Information Engineering by James Martin and Clive Finkelstein
.
Information Engineering first provided data analysis
and database design
techniques that could be used by database administrator
s (DBAs) and by systems analyst
s to develop database designs and systems based upon an understanding of the operational processing needs of organisations for the 1980s.
The Finkelstein thread evolved after 1980 into the data processing (DP)
-driven variant of IE. From 1983 till 1986 IE evolved further into the business-driven variant of IE, which was intended to address a rapidly changing business environment. The then Technical Director, Charles M. Richter, from 1983 to 1987, played a significant role by revamping the IE methodology as well as designing the IE software product (User-Data) which helped automate the IE methodology, opening the way to next generation Information Architecture
.
was strategy-driven from the outset and from 1983 was focused on the possibility of automating the development process through the provision of techniques for business description that could be used to populate a data dictionary or encyclopaedia that could in turn be used as source material for code generation. The Martin methodology provided a foundation for the CASE
(Computer-Aided Software Engineering) tool industry.
Martin himself had significant stakes in at least four CASE tool vendors—InTech (Excelerator), Higher Order Software, KnowledgeWare
, originally Database Design Inc, (Information Engineering Workbench) and James Martin Associates, originally DMW and now Headstrong (the original designers of the Texas Instruments’ Information Engineering Facility and the principal developers of the methodology).
At the end of the 1980s and early 1990s the Martin thread incorporated Rapid Application Development (RAD)
and Business Process Re-engineering (BPR)
and soon after also entered the object oriented field.
is a term originally used to describe a software development process
introduced by James Martin in 1991. Martin’s methodology involves iterative development and the construction of prototype
s. More recently, the term and its acronym have come to be used in a broader, generic sense that encompasses a variety of techniques aimed at speeding application development, such as the use of web application framework
s and other types of software framework
s.
RAD approaches may entail compromises in functionality and performance in exchange for enabling faster development and facilitating application maintenance.
Biography
James Martin was born in 1933 in Ashby-de-la-ZouchAshby-de-la-Zouch
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, — Zouch being pronounced "Zoosh" — often shortened to Ashby, is a small market town and civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England, within the National Forest. It is twinned with Pithiviers in north-central France....
, England. He earned a degree in physics at the Keble College, Oxford
Keble College, Oxford
Keble College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to the south by Museum Road, and to the west by Blackhall...
. He was awarded an honorary DSc by Warwick University in July 2009.
Martin joined IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
in 1959, and since the 1980s established several IT consultancy firms. Starting in 1981 with Dixon Doll and Tony Carter he established DMW (Doll Martin Worldwide) in London, UK, which was later renamed James Martin Associates (JMA), which was (partly) bought by Texas Instruments Software in 1991. He later co-founded Database Design Inc. (DDI), also in Ann Arbor, to promulgate his database design techniques and to develop tools to help implement them. After becoming the market leader in Information Engineering software, DDI was renamed KnowledgeWare and eventually purchased by Fran Tarkenton, who took it public.
He lives on his own private island, Agar’s Island, in Bermuda
Bermuda
Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. Located off the east coast of the United States, its nearest landmass is Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. It is about south of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and northeast of Miami, Florida...
. According to Computerworld’s 25th anniversary issue, he was ranked fourth among the 25 individuals who have most influenced the world of computer science.
Work
Martin is an expert in the field of systems designSystems design
Systems design is the process of defining the architecture, components, modules, interfaces, and data for a system to satisfy specified requirements. One could see it as the application of systems theory to product development...
, Software development methodology
Software development methodology
A software development methodology or system development methodology in software engineering is a framework that is used to structure, plan, and control the process of developing an information system.- History :...
, information engineering
Information engineering
Information engineering or information engineering methodology in software engineering is an approach to designing and developing information systems.-Overview:...
and computer-aided software engineering
Computer-aided software engineering
Computer-aided software engineering is the scientific application of a set of tools and methods to a software system which is meant to result in high-quality, defect-free, and maintainable software products...
. He was one of the first to promote fourth-generation programming language
Fourth-generation programming language
A fourth-generation programming language is a programming language or programming environment designed with a specific purpose in mind, such as the development of commercial business software. In the history of computer science, the 4GL followed the 3GL in an upward trend toward higher...
s, and is the main developer of the Rapid Application Development
Rapid application development
Rapid application development is a software development methodology that uses minimal planning in favor of rapid prototyping. The "planning" of software developed using RAD is interleaved with writing the software itself...
methodology.
Information Engineering
Information EngineeringInformation engineering
Information engineering or information engineering methodology in software engineering is an approach to designing and developing information systems.-Overview:...
(IE) is an approach to designing and developing information systems. It has a somewhat chequered history that follows two very distinct threads. It is said to have originated in Australia between 1976 and 1980, and appears first in the literature in 1981 in the Savant Institute publication Information Engineering by James Martin and Clive Finkelstein
Clive Finkelstein
Clive Finkelstein lives in Australia and is the "Father" of Information Engineering , having developed its concepts from 1976 - 1980 based on original work carried out by him to bridge from strategic business planning to information systems...
.
Information Engineering first provided data analysis
Data analysis
Analysis of data is a process of inspecting, cleaning, transforming, and modeling data with the goal of highlighting useful information, suggesting conclusions, and supporting decision making...
and database design
Database design
Database design is the process of producing a detailed data model of a database. This logical data model contains all the needed logical and physical design choices and physical storage parameters needed to generate a design in a Data Definition Language, which can then be used to create a database...
techniques that could be used by database administrator
Database administrator
A database administrator is a person responsible for the design, implementation, maintenance and repair of an organization's database. They are also known by the titles Database Coordinator or Database Programmer, and is closely related to the Database Analyst, Database Modeller, Programmer...
s (DBAs) and by systems analyst
Systems analyst
A systems analyst researches problems, plans solutions, recommends software and systems, and coordinates development to meet business or other requirements. They will be familiar with multiple variety of programming languages, operating systems, and computer hardware platforms...
s to develop database designs and systems based upon an understanding of the operational processing needs of organisations for the 1980s.
The Finkelstein thread evolved after 1980 into the data processing (DP)
Data processing
Computer data processing is any process that a computer program does to enter data and summarise, analyse or otherwise convert data into usable information. The process may be automated and run on a computer. It involves recording, analysing, sorting, summarising, calculating, disseminating and...
-driven variant of IE. From 1983 till 1986 IE evolved further into the business-driven variant of IE, which was intended to address a rapidly changing business environment. The then Technical Director, Charles M. Richter, from 1983 to 1987, played a significant role by revamping the IE methodology as well as designing the IE software product (User-Data) which helped automate the IE methodology, opening the way to next generation Information Architecture
Information Architecture
Information architecture is the art of expressing a model or concept of information used in activities that require explicit details of complex systems. Among these activities are library systems, Content Management Systems, web development, user interactions, database development, programming,...
.
Computer-aided software engineering
The Martin thread in Information EngineeringInformation engineering
Information engineering or information engineering methodology in software engineering is an approach to designing and developing information systems.-Overview:...
was strategy-driven from the outset and from 1983 was focused on the possibility of automating the development process through the provision of techniques for business description that could be used to populate a data dictionary or encyclopaedia that could in turn be used as source material for code generation. The Martin methodology provided a foundation for the CASE
Computer-aided software engineering
Computer-aided software engineering is the scientific application of a set of tools and methods to a software system which is meant to result in high-quality, defect-free, and maintainable software products...
(Computer-Aided Software Engineering) tool industry.
Martin himself had significant stakes in at least four CASE tool vendors—InTech (Excelerator), Higher Order Software, KnowledgeWare
KnowledgeWare
KnowledgeWare was a software company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia co-founded by James Martin and run by Fran Tarkenton. It produced a Computer Aided Software Engineering tool called IEW...
, originally Database Design Inc, (Information Engineering Workbench) and James Martin Associates, originally DMW and now Headstrong (the original designers of the Texas Instruments’ Information Engineering Facility and the principal developers of the methodology).
At the end of the 1980s and early 1990s the Martin thread incorporated Rapid Application Development (RAD)
Rapid application development
Rapid application development is a software development methodology that uses minimal planning in favor of rapid prototyping. The "planning" of software developed using RAD is interleaved with writing the software itself...
and Business Process Re-engineering (BPR)
Business process reengineering
Business process re-engineering is the analysis and design of workflows and processes within an organization.According to Davenport a business process is a set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined business outcome....
and soon after also entered the object oriented field.
Rapid Application Development (RAD)
Rapid application developmentRapid application development
Rapid application development is a software development methodology that uses minimal planning in favor of rapid prototyping. The "planning" of software developed using RAD is interleaved with writing the software itself...
is a term originally used to describe a software development process
Software development process
A software development process, also known as a software development life cycle , is a structure imposed on the development of a software product. Similar terms include software life cycle and software process. It is often considered a subset of systems development life cycle...
introduced by James Martin in 1991. Martin’s methodology involves iterative development and the construction of prototype
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
s. More recently, the term and its acronym have come to be used in a broader, generic sense that encompasses a variety of techniques aimed at speeding application development, such as the use of web application framework
Web application framework
A web application framework is a software framework that is designed to support the development of dynamic websites, web applications and web services. The framework aims to alleviate the overhead associated with common activities performed in Web development...
s and other types of software framework
Software framework
In computer programming, a software framework is an abstraction in which software providing generic functionality can be selectively changed by user code, thus providing application specific software...
s.
RAD approaches may entail compromises in functionality and performance in exchange for enabling faster development and facilitating application maintenance.
The James Martin 21st Century School
In 2005 Martin donated $100 million to help establish The James Martin 21st Century School at the University of Oxford. This school aims to "formulate new concepts, policies and technologies that will make the future a better place to be". In 2009 Martin pledged up to an additional $50 million if it could be matched by other donors. This condition was met in April 2010.Publications
Martin has written over a hundred books many of which were best sellers in the information technology industry. A selection:- 1965. Programming real-time computer systems.
- 1967. Design of real-time computer systems.
- 1969. Telecommunications and the computer.
- 1971. Future developments in telecommunications
- 1972. Introduction to teleprocessing.
- 1972. Systems analysis for data transmission.
- 1973. Design of man-computer dialogues.
- 1973. Security, accuracy, and privacy in computer systems.
- 1978. Wired society.
- 1981. End-user's guide to data base.
- 1980. Managing the data base environment
- 1981. Information engineering.
- 1982. Viewdata and the information society.
- 1983. Software maintenance : the problem and its solutions. With Carma McClure.
- 1984. Recommended diagramming standards for analysts and programmers : a basis for automation
- 1985. Diagramming techniques for analysts and programmers. With Carma McClure.
- 1985. Fourth-generation languages.
- 1985. System design from provably correct constructs : the beginnings of true software engineering.
- 1986. Wired world : towards a greater understanding of the world information economy. With Simon Grant and the Atwater Institute.
- 1988. Structured techniques : the basis for CASE
- 1989. Strategic information planning methodologies.
- 1992. Object-oriented analysis and design.
- 2000. After the Internet: Alien Intelligence.
- 2006. The Meaning of the 21st Century.