Client/Server Programming with Java(tm) and CORBA

Citation

Eustace, K. (1998), "Client/Server Programming with Java(tm) and CORBA", Internet Research, Vol. 8 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/intr.1998.17208aaf.006

Client/Server Programming with Java(tm) and CORBA

Client/Server Programming with Java(tm) and CORBA

Orfali, R. and Harkey, D. (1997), Wiley, New York, NY, 657 pp., ISBN 0-471-16351-1, $US44.95. Available Wiley Computer Publishing, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY, 10158-0012, http://www.wiley.com/compbooks/

This book depicts Java as the client/server language of the WEB and CORBA as the glue that ties together all objects on the WEB. The authors strongly advocate Java and CORBA as the foundation technologies of an emerging Object WEB despite other competing Object Request Broker (ORB) architectures such as Java's Remote Method Invocation (RMI), Java/DCOM, Sockets and the HTTP/CGI for client/server and distributed objects programmers. It is a good technical guide or reference for information technology professionals, academics and students who are evaluating methods for transforming legacy systems, building and enhancing Intranets or distributed systems. Global systems such as Java and CORBA are still in their infancy, but their capacity for supplying and distributing systems in business and government is promising, as evidenced by the use of SQL-enabled Java applications through a set of Java classes known as the Java Database Connection or JDBC.

The reader's exploration of the CORBA/Java programming model begins with a tutorial for developing their first CORBA program using the Counter program, where methods are invoked in the same manner as they are invoked on Java objects using static method invocations. Tutorials and the use of working code are used throughout the book. After extending this new Counter client into a Java Applet, a C++ version is introduced as a means of comparative performance analysis and to demonstrate the client/server flexibility that can be achieved with C++ CORBA client/Java server or Java client/ C++ server connections. A Debit/Credit benchmark is used to show how a banking system can use a 2-tier or 3-tier client/server system, where the functional units of user interface, application logic and the DBMS are split between the client and one or more servers. The preferred 3-tier system uses an application server between the client user interface and the DBMS server. Flexible and extensile systems can also be developed using dynamic invocations and callbacks programming mechanisms and new services for legacy systems using CORBA's Dynamic Invocation Interface (DII), Trader Services and Interface Repositories.

Experience with Java programming and a basic understanding of CORBA are advised before reading but the authors do write in a simple, informative and entertaining manner throughout the book. CORBA architecture diagrams and numerous Java source code listings are used to support the tutorial experiences. A CD-ROM with over 15 Java-based Client/Server applications is used to support the tutorials. The sample programs used in this book are available on this CD-ROM, specifically for WindowsNT and Windows95 users.

Twenty-seven chapters are divided into seven main parts: CORBA meets Java, Core CORBA/Java, The Dynamic CORBA, CORBA and its Competitors, The Existential CORBA, The Java Database Connection (JDBC) and The Grand Finale: CORBA/Java Club Med.

This book is typical of a new wave of technical books designed to help develop programming techniques to improve the robustness of transactions on the Web and for those enterprises seeking to procure the necessary safe and secure distributed object architecture, essential to the growth of electronic commerce on the Internet.

Ken EustaceSchool of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia