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36.4. RMI vs. Socket-Level Programming

RMI enables you to program at a higher level of abstraction. It hides the details of socket server, socket, connection, and sending or receiving data. It even implements a multithreading server under the hood, whereas with socket-level programming you have to explicitly implement threads for handling multiple clients .

RMI applications are scalable and easy to maintain. You can change the RMI server or move it to another machine without modifying the client program except for resetting the URL to locate the server. (To avoid resetting the URL, you can modify the client to pass the URL as a command-line parameter.) In socket-level programming, a client operation to send data requires a server operation to read it. The implementation of client and server at the socket level is tightly synchronized.

RMI clients can directly invoke the server method, whereas socket-level programming is limited to passing values. Socket-level programming is very primitive. Avoid using it to develop client/server applications. As an analogy, socket-level programming is like programming in assembly language, while RMI programming is like programming in a high-level language.