The Interface Definition Language (IDL)
With basic RMI (and of course with the RMI-based Enterprise JavaBeans), you start by defining the interface between the client and the server. CORBA is no different in that respect. RMI, however, has the advantage in that you can define the interface with a Java interface object. CORBA must support several different programming languages, many of which don't have the equivalent of a Java interface. Instead, CORBA has its own separate language for defining interfaces. This language is appropriately called the Interface Definition Language (IDL).
An IDL file consists of one or more module definitions. In Java terms, a module is like a package—it's a namespace that can contain various interface definitions. ...
Get Special Edition Using Java™ 2 Enterprise Edition now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
