Advanced .NET Remoting (C# Edition) [Paperback]

Ingo Rammer (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

With the arrival of .NET remoting, any programmer who wants to work with distributed objects can benefit from Advanced .NET Remoting, a solid tour of basic and expert techniques for working with distributed code on Microsoft's newest platform.

This title's concise, code-centered approach, backed up by judicious discussion of the finer technical points of .NET, is what helps make it a success. After touring the history of standards used for distributed computing over the years, from DCE/RPC to CORBA to COM and related Microsoft technologies, the author zeroes in on .NET remoting. Short, digestible examples highlight the relevant objects and APIs useful to create and invoke objects remotely. From the basics, the book moves forward with other possibilities for designers, whether using by value or reference arguments for objects, client-activated vs. server-activated objects, and a useful section on asynchronous processing for remote function calls. Early examples use the APIs and strategies you'll need to work on your own, and the author highlights "best practices" like using class factories.

Detailed discussion of deployment options (using XML) is followed by a quick discussion of security and authentication and then managing object lifetimes (including programmatic options through leasing and sponsors). Coverage of using strongly named assemblies (for the Global Assembly Cache, GAC) and versioning stresses the finer points of how different versions of .NET components can be invoked on the same server.

For experts, there’s a fine section that covers .NET remoting internals, explains the details of making distributed calls in .NET, and shows off how messages are formatted and passed between systems through proxies. Excellent use of sequence diagrams showing these features at work will make this chapter invaluable for the advanced reader (though you still use the sample code without having to master these .NET internals).

The book returns to its pragmatic focus with some interesting sample code for compressing and encrypting .NET remote messages with built-in support classes in .NET. A highly developed chapter demonstrates how you use custom transport channel to make remote calls via e-mail (through SMTP and POP3), showing off the flexibility of the .NET programming model. For the truly adventurous developer, a final chapter explores several (undocumented) features for examining and using context objects used in the .NET remoting model.

Overall, this concisely packaged book mixes the right level of sample code, detailed explanation, and advanced material that will let C# developers get going fast with .NET remoting, which can greatly simplify distributed programming on the new Windows platform. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered: Introduction to .NET remoting, history of distributed computing mechanisms (including DCE/RPC, CORBA, and COM to .NET), advantages of .NET remoting (and architecture), a simple getting started program using .NET remoting with a server and client, adding validation, types of remoting (passing objects by value and reference, singletons, published objects), using factories to create objects, server-activated vs. client-activated objects, lifetime management, synchronous vs. asynchronous function calls, multi-server programming, shared assemblies (and the soapsuds utility and proxies), configuration (XML config. files and standard options), deployment (console vs. Windows services vs. IIS), security issues (authentication and checking roles), using SSL and encryption, object lifetime management (lease time and managers, server-side sponsors), versioning for .NET components (strong naming and the Global Assembly Cache, GAC), delegate and events (tips for event handling), .NET remoting internals (proxies, messages, message sinks, formatters, and transport channels), internals of asynchronous processing, advanced sink programming (client-, server-side, and dynamic sinks), extending .NET remoting (including message compression and encryption support), custom transport channels (using POP3/SMTP), and undocumented techniques for working with .NET remoting context objects.

Review

Intermediate to advanced developers will appreciate this book if looking for an in-depth, no holds barred discussion of .NET remoting. -- Slashdot.org

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Product Details

• Paperback: 404 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (April 5, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590590252
• ISBN-13: 978-1590590256
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,179,345 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well it's about Time!, May 10, 2002

By	KMANICK "kmanick" (Newton, Ma United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Advanced .NET Remoting (C# Edition) (Paperback)

Finally, a book that's not all fluff. I didn't need another book to go over the .Net language and framework at a high (Beginners level) AGAIN, like so many other books that are out there. I needed some real information on how to implement this VERY important technology that somehow seems to have been glossed over in lieu of Web services. I work for a consulting company that continually creates intranet applications for some major financial players and up until now we've been using a Web based model. Well now we are using .Net remoting with windows forms and it is like night and Day. Ingo Rammer covers all of the important topics and methods that you (the professional developer) will need to know. It's thorough, it's clear ,it's concise, and it's directly to the point. Each topic is clearly explained and all of his examples are easy(enough ) to follow. Ever serious developer must have a copy of this on his book shelf. Ingo even directly answered some questions I had by email that saved me hours of needless work. 5 STARS (I'd give it 10 if I could)

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A very misleading book, April 20, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Advanced .NET Remoting (C# Edition) (Paperback)

I agree with the reviewer who was confused about all the positive reviews. It's a very linear book that oversimplifies a very tricky subject. As you're reading along the examples seems to make everything clear. Then you realize that the knowledge gained is superficial. Tcp channels are mostly non-existant and working with configuration files, is not only lacking, the first example simply has wrong, or just confusing, information. Soapsuds is not well covered either and requires outside reading. In fact this is true in many areas.

It's a strange hybrid book. The beginning chapters are rudimentary, even sketchy, and the second half is overly detailed in a way that I found hard to learn from. There should be more real world examples. There are some things I've learned and some of the advanced examples are useful but it's not a book I'd heartily recommend. Finally, for me, this books organization distracts from it's use as a .net remoting reference.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THE resource for .NET Remoting (along with Ingo's website), September 8, 2002

By	Daniel Moth (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Advanced .NET Remoting (C# Edition) (Paperback)

Distributed computing in the .NET world is achieved via Remoting; that is all that is covered here with no unnecessary introductions to the Framework or other parts of it. This easy to read book clearly demonstrates that the author is not only an expert on Remoting but that he has an excellent understanding on distributed technologies in general (design of & past approaches).

Everything on Remoting is covered in the first part of the book (server/client activated objects, lifetime management issues, SoapSuds, config files, hosting in IIS and security, versioning, asynchronous calls etc) which is basically the first 6 chapters. The remainder 5 chapters go deeper than what most of us will venture (extending a chosen layer, custom sink and remoting proxy creation, developing your own transport channel etc).

If we want to knit-pick we could complain about the focus being entirely on distributed apps instead of describing good practices for inter-process communication on the same PC only. This was easily achieved with ActiveX Exes (out-of-proc servers) in COM and now with .NET requires Remoting.

Finally, the code used in the numerous examples can be downloaded from the book's website in both VB.NET & C#. If you are still looking for answers to particular Remoting probs after reading the book, you will find Ingo at the remoting newsgroup 'killing' all queries submitted.