7.6 Other integration technologies

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In this section we briefly touch on a few other integration technologies, including:

RMI/IIOP
CORBA

7.6.1 RMI/IIOP

Remote Method Invocation (RMI) APIs allow developers to build distributed applications in the Java programming language. They enable an object running in one Java Virtual Machine to access another object running in a different Java Virtual Machine.

The Internet Inter-ORB (Object Request Broker) Protocol (IIOP) is a protocol used for communication between CORBA object request brokers. An object request broker is a library that enables CORBA objects to locate and to communicate with one another.

RMI/IIOP is an implementation of the RMI API over IIOP that allows developers to write remote interfaces in the Java programming language.

7.6.2 CORBA

Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) is a platform-, language-, and vendor-neutral standard for writing distributed object systems. The CORBA standard was developed by the Object Management Group (OMG), a consortium of companies founded in 1989. CORBA offers a broad range of middleware services, including naming service, relationship service, and so on.

CORBA can be used for integration with legacy applications. This is done by creating a CORBA wrapper for the existing application, which can then be invoked by other applications.

CORBA is just a specification, and there are a number of vendors (such as IONA or Borland) that implement it. Each vendor will provide additional value-added services such as persistence, security, and so on, which can be leveraged by CORBA developers.

The disadvantage of CORBA is in the steep learning curve involved. Also, CORBA is slow-moving; it takes a long time for the OMG to adopt a new feature.

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