Integrating CORBA and COM Applications [Paperback]

Michael Rosen (Author), David Curtis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 13, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0471198277 | ISBN-13: 978-0471198277 | Edition: 1

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.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com 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)

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (October 13, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471198277
• ISBN-13: 978-0471198277
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,306,628 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Bigoted dogmatic polemical specious flatulent..., April 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Integrating CORBA and COM Applications (Paperback)

This is a disappointing book. It represents a very bigoted view of the world of distributed objects. The authors are CORBA zealots, and spend more time sniping at COM than conveying insight into the problems faced by programmers in the real world who have to make real systems talk to each other. Only near the end of the book does it even consider the possibility that you might want to call COM server objects from a CORBA client. But, OMG's CORBA interworking specs are very well written and handle the material much better. Download the CORBA/IIOP 2.2 Specification at the OMG web site.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Fairly ok, but not enough concrete examples, May 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Integrating CORBA and COM Applications (Paperback)

The book is ok, but it doesn't leave you with enough information to sit down and write code with a COM/CORBA bridge. The other poster that said this book is biased to IONA's COMet product is incorrect though - I don't think COMet is even mentioned in the text, which is a shame, since COMet is the most popular COM/CORBA bridge around.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars doesn't match the topic, August 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Integrating CORBA and COM Applications (Paperback)

I bought the book and read it twice and found it was not what I expected. I easily get lost in the chapters and example. But it did give some useful and helpful data