Foreword

During the mid to late 1990s, portals emerged with the promise to help bring together applications seamlessly via a unified user interface. As a result, many software developers today still maintain that preconception of the word portal.

Although that definition of a portal still holds true, I believe the meaning has shifted to something more encompassing. My colleagues describe it as a “convergence” in which traditionally horizontally separated web applications are now beginning to converge within the portal as components of the portal. Portals like Liferay are now comprehensive, ready-to-deploy solutions that include adjacent capabilities, such as social collaboration, content management, and business process management. And in parallel with that shift, portals are taking on the critical infrastructural role of a platform on which a broad range of sophisticated enterprise web applications can be developed.