COMPUTING SEMINAR

ABSTRACT

This tutorial aims to give a practical introduction to the The Object Management Group's (OMG) Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA).

The Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA), is the Object Management Group's answer to the need for interoperability among the rapidly growing number of hardware and software products available today. With CORBA, users gain access to information transparently, without having to know on what software or hardware platform it resides or where it is located on an enterprises' network. Simply stated, CORBA allows applications to communicate with one another no matter where they are located or who has designed them.

The tutorial will cover the following points:

1. Brief description of OMG and history of CORBA.

2. Explanation of the basic mechanics of the architecture of CORBA. Give an overview of CORBA components and provide the listener with some vocabulary used in the OMG documents.

3. Overview of CORBA services and facilities. Provide more detailed explanation for the most currently used services (Naming, Event).

4. Comparison of CORBA to a similar systems (ActiveX/DCOM/OLE, DCE, Java RMI), and some results of the research connected with it's interfacing with CORBA.

5. Current status of real-time extensions to CORBA development.

6. Overview of existing CORBA implementations including commercial and free products with some comparison between them.

7. Information about OMG currently going CORBA related activities and future plans.