A Detailed Comparison of CORBA, DCOM and Java/RMI
(with specific code examples)
Introduction
Distributed object computing extends an object-oriented programming system by allowing objects to be distributed across a heterogeneous network, so that each of these distributed object components interoperate as a unified whole. These objects may be distributed on different computers throughout a network, living within their own address space outside of an application, and yet appear as though they were local to an application.
Three of the most popular distributed object paradigms are Microsoft's Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM), OMG's Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) and JavaSoft's Java/Remote Method Invocation (Java/RMI). In this article, let us examine the differences between these three models from a programmer's standpoint and an architectural standpoint. At the end of this article, you will be able to better appreciate the merits and innards of each of the distributed object paradigms.