Integrating Java and CORBA: a programmer's perspective

The introduction of Java's proprietary remote method invocation (RMI) with version 1.1 of the Java Development Kit simplified the challenging task of developing distributed object-based systems. RMI provides convenient integration with Java; however, it lacks interoperability with other languages. The Object Management Group's Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), on the other hand, is a platform- and language-neutral specification for developing distributed object systems. CORBA provides services not covered by RMI, such as managing transactional safety and persistency. We use a small chat room application to describe how a programmer can combine Java RMI's ease of use with CORBA's language neutrality. We start with an implementation based on a set of distributed objects using RMI. We then adapt the example to CORBA or, more specifically, the RMI-over-IIOP (Internet inter-ORB protocol) specification developed by Sun and IBM.