Java RMI over IIOP

Java Remote Method Invocation ("Java RMI") technology run over Internet Inter-Orb Protocol ("RMI-IIOP") delivers Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) distributed computing capabilities to the Java 2 platform. Java RMI over IIOP was developed by Sun and IBM. The joint work by Sun and IBM to implement Object Management Group (OMG) standards demonstrates the spirit of collaboration that continually moves the Java platform forward.
Java RMI over IIOP combines the best features of Java RMI technology with the best features of CORBA technology. Like Java RMI, RMI over IIOP speeds distributed application development by allowing developers to work completely in the Java programming language. When using RMI over IIOP to produce Java technology-based distributed applications, there is no separate Interface Definition Language (IDL) or mapping to learn. Like RMI, RMI over IIOP provides flexibility by allowing developers to pass any serializable Java object (Objects By Value) between application components. Like CORBA, RMI over IIOP is based on open standards defined with the participation of hundreds of vendors and users in the Object Management Group. Like CORBA, RMI over IIOP uses IIOP as its communication protocol. IIOP eases legacy application and platform integration by allowing application components written in C++, Smalltalk, and other CORBA supported languages to communicate with components running on the Java platform.
RMI over IIOP is based on two specifications of the Object Management Group:
Java Language Mapping to OMG IDL Specification
CORBA/IIOP 2.3.1 Specification, formal/99-10-07
With RMI over IIOP, developers can write remote interfaces in the Java programming language and implement them just using Java technology and the Java RMI APIs. These interfaces can be implemented in any other language that is supported by an OMG mapping and a vendor supplied ORB for that language. Similarly, clients can be written in other languages using IDL derived from the remote Java technology-based interfaces. Using RMI over IIOP, objects can be passed both by reference and by value over IIOP.
RMI over IIOP is available with the download of the Java 2 platform, Standard Edition, version 1.3 and 1.4. The RMI over IIOP IDL Compiler, rmic, can be found in the bin directory of the J2SDK installation. Use the RMI over IIOP Compiler with the -iiop option to generate stubs, skeletons, and ties for remote objects using the IIOP protocols. The rmic compiler can also be used to generate OMG IDL for CORBA development on the Java platform. For more information on the rmic compiler, follow the link.