Common Object Request Broker Architecture

Common Object Request Broker Architecture
Name	Common Object Request Broker Architecture
Developer	Object Management Group
Released	1991
Latest release	2002 (CORBA 3.0)
Programming languages	C, C++, Java, Python, Ada, Smalltalk
Platform	Cross-platform
License	Various

Common Object Request Broker Architecture

Common Object Request Broker Architecture is a vendor-neutral specification for distributed object systems that defines an object request broker for communication among objects across heterogeneous platforms. It describes interfaces, protocols, and language mappings enabling interoperability among implementations from companies such as Sun Microsystems, IBM, Oracle Corporation, HP, and Microsoft-adjacent technologies during the 1990s and 2000s. The specification was produced and maintained by the Object Management Group to support enterprise systems developed at organizations like AT&T, Siemens, Nokia, Ericsson, and Fujitsu.

Overview

CORBA provides a model whereby client code invokes methods on remote objects as if they were local, relying on an intermediary called the Object Request Broker specified by the Object Management Group. The architecture introduces an Interface Definition Language originating in efforts at Digital Equipment Corporation and Sun Microsystems to describe interface contracts, complemented by mappings to languages used at institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, and Stanford University research projects. Early adopters included vendors and projects from Bell Labs, NEC Corporation, Hitachi, Toshiba, and the European Space Agency for distributed computing needs.

Architecture and Components

Key components include the ORB, the Interface Repository, the Implementation Repository, and services defined in the CORBA Common Object Services such as the Naming Service and Trading Service used in deployments at Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Barclays. The ORB core provides request marshaling, demarshaling, and dispatching analogous to middleware projects at Sun Microsystems and IBM Research, while Portable Object Adapter semantics were influenced by work at Xerox PARC and Bell Labs. Support tooling and products emerged from BEA Systems, Digital Equipment Corporation, Borland, Progress Software, and Iona Technologies.

Interoperability and IIOP

Interoperability is accomplished through the Internet Inter-ORB Protocol standardized as part of the CORBA specifications to permit ORBs from vendors such as Oracle Corporation, IBM, Sun Microsystems, and HP to interoperate. IIOP leverages networking stacks implemented on platforms like UNIX System V, Microsoft Windows NT, Linux, and Solaris to enable heterogeneous communication among systems built by Cisco Systems, Juniper Networks, Nortel Networks, and Alcatel-Lucent. Gateways and bridges were produced by Software AG, TIBCO Software, and Microsoft Research collaborators to integrate CORBA with protocols used at Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, and Telefonica.

Programming Model and APIs

The programming model relies on an IDL that is mapped to target languages including C++ favored by Bell Labs and Microsoft Research, Java popularized by Sun Microsystems', and Ada used by Lockheed Martin and Raytheon for defense projects. Language mappings and language bindings were standardized to interoperate with toolchains from GNU Project, Microsoft Corporation, Red Hat, and IBM developer platforms. APIs expose invocation semantics, object lifecycle, and exception models similar to APIs produced by Sun Microsystems for RMI, and patterns documented by groups at MITRE Corporation and SRI International.

Security and Transaction Services

CORBA Security and CORBA Transactions specifications address authentication, authorization, confidentiality, and two-phase commit patterns applied in systems at Citibank, HSBC, and enterprise deployments by SAP SE and Oracle Corporation. Security services were integrated with existing infrastructures like Kerberos and X.509 deployments used at VeriSign and Entrust, while transaction monitors and resource managers from IBM and BEA Systems provided support for distributed commit and recovery in environments involving Siemens and General Electric.

Implementations and Use Cases

Commercial ORB implementations were produced by Iona Technologies, VisiBroker from Borland, ORBIX from IONA, JacORB from SourceForge communities, and open-source projects hosted by Apache Software Foundation and Eclipse Foundation ecosystems. Use cases spanned telecommunications systems at Nokia and Ericsson, financial trading platforms at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, avionics systems at Boeing and Airbus, and government projects at NASA and the Department of Defense (United States). Middleware integration scenarios connected CORBA with SOAP-based web services championed by Microsoft and IBM as well as with REST patterns emerging from projects at Amazon.com and Google.

History and Standards Development

The CORBA specification evolved through CORBA 1.0 and subsequent revisions in the 1990s and early 2000s under the auspices of the Object Management Group with contributions from vendors such as Sun Microsystems, IBM, Oracle Corporation, HP, and BEA Systems. Standardization activities intersected with efforts at ISO and national bodies including ANSI and ETSI, and were discussed in industry fora attended by Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, IBM Research, and academic partners at MIT and Stanford University. Over time, architectural trends toward Web services and microservices influenced adoption patterns, while legacy CORBA systems remain in use at enterprises including Siemens, Thales Group, and Schneider Electric.

Category:Distributed computing standards