Corba Fundamentals   «Prev  Next»
Lesson 2 Corba Prerequisites
Objective What are the prerequisites for learning Corba?

CORBA Fundamentals Prerequisites

This course is designed to teach developers the basics of the CORBA architecture.
In order to successfully complete this course, you must be experienced programming in either C++, Smalltalk, or Java. You should also have experience with object-oriented analysis and design.
A basic understanding of client/server or distributed computing architectures will prove helpful.

Platform support

This course supports the following operating systems:
  1. Windows
  2. Mac OS
  3. Linux/Unix

Description: This course introduces how to program distributed objects using Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) and using the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA)
Prerequisites: To get the most out of this course, you need to be an experienced Java programmer
Objectives: When you have completed the course, you should be able to:
  1. Contrast RMI and CORBA both at the conceptual and technical levels,
  2. write simple RMI and CORBA programs using the Java Development Kit (JDK) latest version.
CORBA is not a subject for the fainthearted, to be sure. Although development tools that hide some of the complexity of CORBA exist, if you embark on a project to develop a reasonably sophisticated CORBA application, chances are that you will experience some of CORBA's complexities. However, there might be a steep learning curve associated with CORBA, a working knowledge of CORBA fundamentals is well within the grasp of any competent programmer.
For the purposes of this course, it is assumed that you already have a good deal of programming experience.
CORBA is a language-independent architecture, but because C++ and Java are the principal languages used to develop CORBA applications, it would be preferable if you had experience with one of these languages. (Most of the examples are written in C++, with a healthy dose of Java thrown in for good measure.) It would not hurt if you were familiar with object-oriented analysis and design concepts either, but just in case you need a refresher, this course will help you review these concepts.
Operating under the assumption that learning CORBA is a surmountable (if daunting) goal for most programmers, this book begins teaching the fundamentals of CORBA, starting with an overview of the architecture. You'll then move on to a primer on the Interface Definition Language (IDL), a cornerstone on which most CORBA applications are based. After that, you'll start building CORBA applications, and before you know it, you will be exposed to advanced concepts and design issues, along with other useful things such as CORBAservices, CORBAfacilities, and the Dynamic Invocation Interface, or DII
What this course does not do is make you a CORBA expert overnight. It does put you well on your way to mastering CORBA. Keep in mind that CORBA is a complex architecture, full of design issues and tradeoffs as well as implementation nuances. As such, it can only be mastered through experience, something you will gain only by designing and developing CORBA applications. Perhaps this book does not make you an expert in all things CORBA, but it does put you on the right track toward achieving that goal.