Seppia - sepia officinalis 

The Seppia (cuttlefish) is one of the most fascinating creatures of the sea. 

Amongst the most intelligent of all invertebrates it has a well-developed head, with large eyes and a mouth that feature beak-like jaws. Its body is flattened and broad, and is oval in cross-section. A fin runs around the body from behind the head. Encircling the mouth there are eight tentacles with suckers, which are used to manipulate prey. There are also two tentacles with flattened paddle-like tips, which can be rapidly extended and are used to catch prey.

A Seppia has excellent camouflage: it can control the colour, patterning and texture of its skin to perfectly match its surroundings.

Transformation from one colour to another, which can take less than a second, is controlled by the nervous system. In just a few seconds, it can run a whole gamut of colours. In addition to avoiding predators, pattern control is also used in courtship by male cuttlefish. This impresses females and warns off competitors.

Seppia (the java technology) was originally written in Lorenzo Puccetti's spare time during late 2004.

He claims he was inspired by the Eclipse Plugin Architecture (modularity) and the javascript engine Mozilla Rhino (flexibility) in the early 2002 but he was never quite able to seize it.

"I began thinking in earnest about the topics of component-based software development with java and javascript few years ago. I do remember reading the relevant literature, surfing the net for more articles to read, drafting arguments, plotting strategies and engaging in pleasant debate and discussion with my colleagues and friends"

Lorenzo is an experienced software engineer currently working in the city of London.