Structure and Content

I l @ ve RuBoard

This book describes how C++ and middleware help address key challenges associated with developing networked applications. We review the core native OS mechanisms available on popular OS platforms and illustrate how C++ and patterns are applied in ACE to encapsulate these mechanisms in class library wrapper facades that improve application portability and robustness. The book's primary application example is a networked logging service that transfers log records from client applications to a logging server over TCP/IP. We use this service as a running example throughout the book to

• Show concretely how C++ and ACE can help achieve efficient, predictable, and scalable networked applications and

• Demonstrate key design and implementation considerations and solutions that will arise when you develop your own concurrent object-oriented networked applications

The book is organized into 11 chapters as follows :

• Introduction ” Chapter 0 presents an introduction to C++ network programming. It starts by outlining the problem space and presenting the challenges that can arise when applications extend beyond a single thread in a single process. We then introduce a taxonomy of middleware layers and describe how host infrastructure middleware and the ACE toolkit can be applied to address common network programming challenges.

• Part I ” Chapters 1 through 4 outline communication design alternatives and describe the object-oriented techniques used in ACE to program OS IPC mechanisms effectively. The resulting classes form the basis of the first version of the book's running example, a networked logging service.

• Part II ” Chapters 5 through 10 outline concurrency design alternatives and describe the object-oriented techniques used in ACE to program OS concurrency mechanisms effectively.

Throughout Parts I and II we present a series of increasingly sophisticated implementations of our networked logging service to illustrate how the ACE IPC and concurrency wrapper facades can be applied in practice.

Appendix A summarizes the class design and implementation principles that underlie the ACE IPC and concurrency wrapper facades. Appendix B explains the inception and open -source evolution of ACE over the past decade and outlines where it's heading in the future. The book concludes with a glossary of technical terms (including the italicized terms in this book), an extensive list of references for further research, and a general subject index.

I l @ ve RuBoard