Integrating CORBA? and COM Applications - Softcover

Rosen, Michael; Curtis, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0471198277 ISBN 13: 9780471198277

Publisher: Wiley, 1998

Synopsis

A marriage made in heaven . . .

Learn to write COM programs to work with CORBA.

As it stands, there are two core approaches to distributed objects: OMG's server-side standard, CORBA, and Microsoft's client-side stronghold, COM. The trick for programmers looking to simplify and increase flexibility in their systems is to get these two approaches to work together. Expert help is now available in this practical guide to writing programs that take advantage of the strengths of both industry standards. The authors describe exactly how to write hybrid programs, build real-world systems using COM with CORBA, partition applications, and write COM clients that use CORBA objects and services. The book also discusses key traps and pitfalls to avoid and advises readers on the best solutions to common programming problems encountered when integrating these approaches.

Companion Web site includes all source code and demonstrations of applications discussed in the book.

About this title

Review

The two most popular standards today for reusing objects in distributed environments are Object Management Group's (OMG) CORBA and Microsoft's COM. Instead of an either/or choice, however, many programming shops face the prospect of integrating both technologies. This book is a valuable roadmap for getting CORBA and COM to coexist peacefully using Visual Basic.

This guide first looks at the new tools that allow CORBA and COM to work together. (Both authors contributed to the OMG COM/CORBA Internetworking Standard, so they are highly familiar with the tools.) The book offers good coverage of CORBA basics, including basic philosophy and the nuts and bolts of its Interface Definition Language (IDL) and data types. The authors detail how to map data types back and forth between CORBA and COM. Short, effective programming samples illustrate the basics of calling CORBA methods from within Visual Basic. Advanced chapters look at such topics as exception handling and using COM/CORBA on the Internet.

Throughout Integrating CORBA and COM Applications, the authors stress a role for COM on the client and CORBA on the server. The authors largely ignore Microsoft's recent attempts to bring COM to the enterprise with DCOM and the emerging COM+ standard. But for integrating older-style COM components with legacy CORBA services, this guide can serve as an absolutely indispensable resource. --Richard Dragan

Review

"Recommended: specialised and useful" (UNIX NT, January 2001)

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0471198277
• ISBN 13: 9780471198277
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352