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Instant CORBA by Robert Orfali & Dan Harkey & Jeri Edwards Recommended

ISBN: 0 471 18333 4       Publisher: Wiley       Pages: 313pp       Price: £15-99

Categories:   object oriented     client server     CORBA and COM

Reviewed by Alec Ross in C Vu 9-6 (Sep 1997)

The book is written at a level similar to the authors' Distributed Objects Survival Guide , but in this case concentrates on CORBA, its current state and (near) future developments. The explanations of the concepts and TLAs (and MLAs) are good, but are too extensive to remember in detail. Thankfully there is a 21-page index. The level of explanation cannot be completely detailed in a book this size, so although these explanations are clear as far as they go, there are inevitable ambiguities remaining. There is no detailed comparison with the corresponding MS DCOM offering. The authors' view is that 'CORBA is inevitable'. The text is plentifully illustrated with helpful graphics showing static and dynamic relationships, message sequences, and some comparison tables, e.g. feature-by-feature comparison of CORBA/IOOP with (non-CORBA) competing technologies and of eight commercial ORBs with each other.

Overall, this is an excellent book for those wanting an introduction to the current state of CORBA.

Harkey
Client/Server Data Access with Java & XML by D Chang & D Harkey [Recommended]  (Reviewed Jul 1999)
Client/Server Programming with Java and CORBA by D Harkey & R Orfali [Recommended]  (Reviewed Jan 1998)
Client/Server Survival Guide (3rd ed) by Jeri Edwards & Dan Harkey & R. Orfali [Recommended]  (Reviewed Sep 1999)

Orfali
Client/Server Programming with Java and CORBA by D Harkey & R Orfali [Recommended]  (Reviewed Jan 1998)
Client/Server Survival Guide (3rd ed) by Jeri Edwards & Dan Harkey & R. Orfali [Recommended]  (Reviewed Sep 1999)
Essential Distributed Objects Survival Guide, The by Robert Orfali [Recommended]  (Reviewed Jul 1996)