Middleware

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This article is about integration software. For video game engine software, see Game engine#Middleware.

Middleware is computer software that connects software components or applications. It is used most often to support complex, distributed applications. It includes web servers, application servers, content management systems, and similar tools that support application development and delivery. Middleware is especially integral to modern information technology based on XML, SOAP, Web services, and service-oriented architecture.

The term middleware is sometimes considered a buzzword.

Middleware in Simulation Technology. In Simulation, "middleware" is a term generally used in the context of the High Level Architecture (HLA) that applies to many distributed simulations. It is a layer of software that lies between the application code and the Run-Time Infrastructure (RTI), hence `middle' in its title. Middleware generally consists of a library of functions, and enables a number of applications (simulations, or Federates in HLA terminology) to page these functions from the common library rather than re-create them for each application