CORBA 3.0 Eases Object Development

CORBA backers detailed the next version of the distributed object platform with a focus on simplifying this often painfully complex technology.

Joined by a handful of Common Object Request Broker Architecture vendors, the Object Management Group said it would publish a pre-production release of the CORBA 3.0 specification by year's end, with the final release slated for the first half of next year.

Support for CORBA 3.0 features will begin to filter into ORBs and application servers almost immediately.

The major highlight for CORBA 3.0 is the introduction of a CORBA component model, which specifies a framework for the creation of plug-and-play CORBA objects. That will aid further integration with other object-based technologies, in particular Java and Enterprise Java Beans.

The CORBA component model is based in part on EJBs, but it goes beyond that, said (Dr.) Richard Soley, chairman and CEO of OMG. "CORBA is not just about Java, though we do a heck of a lot to integrate Java into the platform. We also need a component model to work with C++, COBOL, Small Talk, ADA and other languages."

Language preferences aside, what the CORBA component model is "all about is standardizing the way component interfaces are defined," said Soley."

Those component interfaces will be of special interest in particular to non-Java users. "Now companies with large COBOL and C++ interests can expose their apps to a whole new environment of developers and extend their application functionality," said J.P Morgenthal, analyst and president of N.C. Focus.

Meanwhile, the ease-of-use features in CORBA 3.0 makes it "much easier to take advantage of by business application developers and not just system developers," Morgenthal said.

Other additions include the CORBA Scripting Langauge specification, which will simplify CORBA development and enable the composition of components using scripts. Also added is support for Objects-by-Value, which provides a method of passing information in an object-oriented form across a network. Again, this feature will aid integration with Java, including enabling CORBA 3.0's new Java-to-CORBA IDL mapping.

Java-to-IDL mapping will let developers build applications completely in Java and then generate the CORBA Interface Definition Language code from the Java class files.

Also new: the ability to pass Internet Inter-ORB Protocol (IIOP) messages through a firewall; DCE/CORBA interworking; quality of service enhancements in the form of Real-Time CORBA 1.0 and CORBA messaging.

Vendors including Inrpise, IBM, BEA Systems, IONA Technologies said they would support CORBA 3.0 in their products.