RPCs, Messaging, and Application Integration

Two considerations make our discussion of MOM and RPC-based middleware both brief and possibly irrelevant. First, message-oriented middleware and RPC-based middleware tend to be traditional, point-to-point middleware and therefore ineffective solutions for most application integration projects. Second, there isn't a great deal we can add to what has already been published on the subject.

Because of these considerations, we are confronted with the question, Why devote time and energy to a discussion of this technology if it isn't an effective component of the solution set? The answer is simple and straightforward. We need to understand point-to-point middleware to integrate it within the enterprise. Our discussion will therefore center on the application of this technology to the new application integration space and on the evolution of this technology in support of application integration.

Middleware itself is a common point of integration for source and target systems. Despite the limitations of MOM and RPC-based middleware for application integration solutions, the necessary tradeoffs in both technology and product decisions may make the inclusion of this middleware important to a particular application integration problem domain.