[6] RECENT CHANGES
(Part of the CORBA FAQ, Copyright © 1996-99)

[6.1] WHAT IS THE CHAIN OF RECENTLY UPDATED FAQS?

The hyper-linked chain of and FAQs is a big help if you want to see what’s changed since the last time you read the CORBA FAQ.

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[6.2] WHAT UPDATES WERE MADE TO THE CORBA FAQ FOR THE 1999-10 (OCT 1999) RELEASE?

[Recently created (10/1999). Click here to go to the next FAQ in the “chain” of recent changes]

New FAQs:

• [1.3] About Lester Claudio
• [6.2] What updates were made to the CORBA FAQ for the 1999-10 (Oct 1999) release?
• [14.1] Why should I use CORBA and not EJB?
• [14.2] Must I choose between EJB and CORBA?
• [14.3] Is CORBA more Mature than EJB?
• [21.3] Can CORBA Applications Have Callbacks?
• [31.8] What is a Good IDL Interface?
• [38.1] What is an Any?
• [38.2] How Does an Any Represent its Runtime Type?
• [38.3] When Would I Use an Any?
• [38.4] Okay, so Why Not Use Anys All the Time?
• [38.5] An Any Seems Very Dynamic, So What’s a Dynamic Any?
• [39.1] What is a Typecode?
• [39.2] Do All Types Have a Typecode?
• [39.3] What are the Typecodes for the Built-in IDL Types?
• [39.4] What are the Typecodes for the User-Defined Types?
• [39.5] How Do I Get an Object’s Typecode
• [42.1] What is the POA?
• [42.2] Why is the POA Needed?
• [42.3] Does the POA Affect Clients?
• [42.4] Does the POA Affect Servers?
• [42.5] How does the POA Benefit Non-Distributed Objects?
• [42.6] How Does the POA Manage Object Lifecycle?
• [42.7] How Does the POA Make the Association Between Servants and CORBA Objects?
• [42.8] “For a Given POA”, Can There be More Than One?
• [42.9] How are Multiple POAs Distinguished?
• [42.10] How are Multiple POAs Organized?
• [42.11] What are the Semantics of the POA Hierarchy?
• [42.12] Where does the POA Manager Fit In?
• [42.13] What are the POA Polices?
• [42.14] What is a Servant Manager?
• [42.15] How does a Request Get to the Right POA and Right Servant?
• [42.16] How does the POA Support Object Relocation?
• [42.17] How Do I Migrate from BOA to POA?
• [46.4] What is the Interoperable Name Service (INS)?
• [48.1] What is Notification Service?
• [48.2] How does the Notification Service work?
• [48.3] How does the Notification Service extend the Event Service?
• [48.4] What does the Quality of Service give me?
• [48.5] When do I need a service like Notification?
• [48.6] How do I define Notification Events?
• [48.7] Can I federate Notification Channels?
• [52.1] What is the purpose of the Persistent Object Service?
• [53.1] What is the purpose of the Persistent State Service?
• [54.1] What are Objects By Value?
• [54.2] How Can I Use OBV?
• [54.3] What Does OBV Really Provide?
• [54.4] What is a Value Type?
• [54.5] In What Cases Do I Need a Value Type?
• [54.6] How Does a Value Type Differ from an Interface Type?
• [54.7] What is an Abstract Value Type?
• [55.1] What is the purpose of the Asynchronous Messaging Interface?
• [57.1] Can CORBA be integrated with XML?
• [58.1] Is there a CORBA Reading List?

Changed FAQs:

• [0] The CORBA FAQ — Frequently Asked Questions
  (updated authors and mirror sites)
• [1.1] The Authors (Alphabetically)
  (updated author list)
• [1.2] About Rob Appelbaum
  (updated the bio)
• [1.4] About Jim Watson
  (updated the bio)
• [11.3] I need a CORBA ORB? Where can I get one?
  (modified list and added links)
• [16.1] Can CORBA Objects be accessed by Web Based Applications?
  (added servlets, ASP, JSP)
• [21.2] Do Common Application Architectures Exist?
  (added comparisons to EJB and removed BOA reference)
• [32.1] How does a CORBA Object provide its services?
  (expanded description to both BOA and POA)
• [32.2] How are the skeleton and implementation object combined?
  (expanded description to both BOA and POA)
• [34.2] What are the Current Language Mappings for CORBA?
  (updated mappings)
• [41.1] What is the BOA?
  (added deprecation notice)
• [41.2] What are the Four BOA Activation Policies for a CORBA Server?
  (added deprecation notice)
• [41.3] Are there any other activation policies for CORBA objects?
  (added deprecation notice)
• [59.1] There are a lot of Acronyms in CORBA. What do they mean?
  (added more acronyms)

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[6.3] WHAT UPDATES WERE MADE TO THE CORBA FAQ FOR THE 1999-03 (MAR 1999) RELEASE?

[Recently created (3/1999). Click here to go to the next FAQ in the “chain” of recent changes]

New FAQs:

• [6.3] What updates were made to the CORBA FAQ for the 1999-03 (Mar 1999) release?
• [13.1] I use DCE products; Why should I use CORBA and not DCE?
• [13.2] Must I choose between DCE and CORBA?
• [13.3] Is CORBA more Mature than DCE?
• [15.1] So, how real/mature is CORBA?
• [15.2] Where are some CORBA success stories?
• [26.1] What is Interoperability?
• [26.2] How does CORBA Support Interoperability?
• [30.1] What are CORBA Pseudo Objects?
• [30.2] Why are Pseudo Objects Needed?
• [34.1] What is a Language Mapping?
• [34.2] What are the Current Language Mappings for CORBA?
• [35.1] What is the Static Invocation Interface?
• [35.2] Which is the best mechanism to invoke operations on an Object?
• [35.3] How does a ORB support Static Invocation Interface?
• [36.1] What is the Static Invocation Interface?
• [36.2] Under what conditions is DII appropriate?
• [36.3] What is the deferred synchronous invocation?
• [37.1] What is the Dynamic Skeleton Interface?
• [37.2] Under what conditions is DSI appropriate?
• [40.1] What is the Interface Repository?
• [40.2] Why does CORBA need the Interface Repository?
• [43.1] What is important for Interoperability besides IIOP?
• [45.1] What is the Initialization Service?
• [47.1] What is the Event Service?
• [47.2] Are there more than one type of Event Service?
• [47.3] What is the quality of service provided by the Event Service?
• [59.1] There are a lot of Acronyms in CORBA. What do they mean?

Changed FAQs:

• [1.1] The Authors (Alphabetically)
  (updated author list)
• [20.4] Are there different threading models that can be used within CORBA servers?
  (reorganized to separate thread model semantics and pooling)
• [20.5] Are there reasons to avoid the development of multi-threaded CORBA applications ?
  (small wordsmithing)

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[6.4] WHAT UPDATES WERE MADE TO THE CORBA FAQ FOR THE 1998-12 (DEC 1998) RELEASE?

[Recently created (12/1998). Click here to go to the next FAQ in the “chain” of recent changes]

New FAQs:

• [1.4] About Jim Watson
• [6.4] What updates were made to the CORBA FAQ for the 1998-12 (Dec 1998) release?
• [7.4] What should I do if I see someone else posting a homework problem?
• [10.4] Is CORBA {better,worse} than {DCOM,COM+,Java RMI,DCE,etc}?
• [10.5] Okay, okay, but now tell the truth: Is CORBA {better,worse} than {DCOM,COM+,Java RMI,DCE,etc}?
• [10.6] If you’re only going to use Java, is CORBA excessive?
• [11.3] I need a CORBA ORB? Where can I get one?
• [11.4] Are remote invocations blocking operations?
• [11.5] Can dead locks occur between CORBA servers?
• [20.1] Can CORBA applications be multi-threaded?
• [20.2] Why would I decide to implement a CORBA client application with multi-threading?
• [20.3] Why would I decide to implement a CORBA server application with multi-threading?
• [20.4] Are there different threading models that can be used within CORBA servers?
• [20.5] Are there reasons to avoid the development of multi-threaded CORBA applications ?
• [22.27] When I obtain an object reference, what determines if it is an IOR or just an OR?
• [31.6] Does CORBA have support for C++ virtual functions?
• [31.7] Is it true that CORBA IDL can specify inheritance but not “virtual” methods?

Changed FAQs:

• [1.2] About Rob Appelbaum
  (updated the bio)
• [1.5] About Marshall Cline
  (updated the bio)
• [1.6] About Mike Girou
  (updated the bio)
• [8.3] Can Distributed Computing solve Business Problems?
  (did some wordsmithing)
• [9.3] Why should I develop Applications with Distributed Objects?
  (did some wordsmithing)
• [9.4] How are Distributed Objects actually implemented?
  (did some wordsmithing)
• [19.1] Why would Applications require Asynchronous Communications?
  (did some wordsmithing)
• [19.3] Are Application Threading and Asynchronous Communication related?
  (added the last paragraph)
• [21.2] Do Common Application Architectures Exist?
  (did some wordsmithing)
• [41.1] What is the BOA?
  (did some wordsmithing)

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[6.5] WHAT UPDATES WERE MADE TO THE CORBA FAQ FOR THE 1998-11 (NOV 1998) RELEASE?

New FAQs:

• [1.17] Why is the download via email? Why not via ftp?
• [6.5] What updates were made to the CORBA FAQ for the 1998-11 (Nov 1998) release?

Changed FAQs:

• [0] The CORBA FAQ — Frequently Asked Questions
  (added the Indian mirror site)
• [1.15] How can I get a Copy of all the HTML files of the CORBA FAQ so I can read them Off-Line?
  (rewrote the “Restrictions” section at bottom)
• [1.16] How can I get a Copy of all the “plaintext” files of the CORBA FAQ so I can read them Off-Line?
  (rewrote the “Restrictions” section at bottom)
• [19.3] Are Application Threading and Asynchronous Communication related?
  (added info to second paragraph)
• [23.2] What are some typical types of factories?
  (fixed problem with Courier font (HTML version only))
• [25.3] What Types of Performance should I be Concerned With?
  (reworded first paragraph)
• [33.1] How are object references obtained by applications?
  (reworded second bullet)

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[6.6] WHAT UPDATES WERE MADE TO THE CORBA FAQ FOR THE 1998-05 (MAY 1998) RELEASE?

New FAQs:

• [6.6] What updates were made to the CORBA FAQ for the 1998-05 (May 1998) release?

Changed FAQs:

• [0] The CORBA FAQ — Frequently Asked Questions
  (added the Korean translation and the Ukraine mirror site)
• [1.15] How can I get a Copy of all the HTML files of the CORBA FAQ so I can read them Off-Line?
  (exposed email addresses to Web readers)
• [1.16] How can I get a Copy of all the “plaintext” files of the CORBA FAQ so I can read them Off-Line?
  (exposed email addresses to Web readers)
• [7.10] In addition to these FAQs, what other useful URLs might I be interested in?
  (added the Korean translation)

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[6.7] WHAT UPDATES WERE MADE TO THE CORBA FAQ FOR THE 1997-07 (JUL 1997) RELEASE?

New FAQs:

• [6.7] What updates were made to the CORBA FAQ for the 1997-07 (Jul 1997) release?
• [23.1] What is a Factory?
• [23.2] What are some typical types of factories?
• [23.3] Does the CORBA specification define any specific capabilities for a factory object?
• [24.1] What is a distributed reference counting architecture?
• [24.2] Why would an application implement a distributed reference counting architecture?
• [24.3] Does CORBA support distributed reference counting architectures?
• [24.4] What problems might be associated with a distributed reference counting architecture?
• [24.5] Is there an alternative to distributed reference counting architectures?
• [31.1] What is the purpose of IDL?
• [31.2] Do I program in IDL?
• [32.1] How does a CORBA Object provide its services?
• [32.2] How are the skeleton and implementation object combined?
• [49.1] What is the purpose of the Lifecycle Service?
• [50.1] What is the purpose of the Object Transaction Service?
• [51.1] What is the purpose of the COS Trader Service?

Changed FAQs:

• [1.6] About Mike Girou
  (supplied bio info finally)
• [1.11] What the Intended Audience Looks Like
  (rewrote the last paragraph more modestly)
• [1.12] “Morality” in addition to just “Legality”
  (rewrote the last paragraph more modestly)
• [9.2] Are all Distributed Objects CORBA Objects?
  (added first two paragraphs and put break between other paras.)
• [9.3] Why should I develop Applications with Distributed Objects?
  (added last point on list)
• [11.1] How can CORBA enable Client/Server Communication?
  (fixed bad grammar/spelling in fifth sentence)
• [11.2] Do any Client/Server Limitations exist with CORBA?
  (added first paragraph)
• [12.1] I use Microsoft products; Why should I use CORBA and not DCOM?
  (rewrote answer totally)
• [12.2] Must I choose between DCOM and CORBA?
  (added first sentence)
• [16.1] Can CORBA Objects be accessed by Web Based Applications?
  (added period at end of first sentence)
• [17.1] Can CORBA Allow Servers to cause Client Side Events or Notifications?
  (rewrote last sentence for clarity)
• [19.1] Why would Applications require Asynchronous Communications?
  (added first paragraph)
• [19.2] Does CORBA support Asynchronous Communication?
  (added first sentence)
• [19.3] Are Application Threading and Asynchronous Communication related?
  (added first paragraph)
• [19.4] Are there Important Forms of Asynchronous Communication that Aren’t Supported Directly by CORBA?
  (added first paragraph)
• [21.1] Does CORBA define High Level Application Architectures?
  (added first paragraph)
• [21.2] Do Common Application Architectures Exist?
  (rewrote first paragraph for clarity)
• [25.1] Can CORBA Applications be Tuned for Better Performance?
  (added first paragraph)
• [25.2] Do Different CORBA Implementations Perform at Significantly Different Levels?
  (added first paragraph)
• [41.1] What is the BOA?
  (spelled adapter properly)
• [41.2] What are the Four BOA Activation Policies for a CORBA Server?
  (spelled adapter properly)
• [41.3] Are there any other activation policies for CORBA objects?
  (spelled adapter properly)
• [44.3] Can an Application refer to Objects implemented with Multiple CORBA Products?
  (added first sentence)

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[6.8] WHAT UPDATES WERE MADE TO THE CORBA FAQ FOR THE 1997-02 (FEB 1997) RELEASE?

New FAQs:

• [6.8] What updates were made to the CORBA FAQ for the 1997-02 (Feb 1997) release?

Changed FAQs:

• [1.9] Copying Permissions
  (clarified)

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[6.9] WHAT UPDATES WERE MADE TO THE CORBA FAQ FOR THE 1997-01 (JAN 1997) RELEASE?

New FAQs:

• [6.9] What updates were made to the CORBA FAQ for the 1997-01 (Jan 1997) release?
• [7.1] How can I find out about general netiquette so I don’t embarrass myself?
• [7.2] What does IMHO mean? (or IMO, IMNSHO, FWIW, OTOH, etc.)?
• [7.3] How do I get comp.object.corba to do my homework problem for me?
• [7.5] What do I do if someone else posts a question that’s already in the FAQ?
• [7.6] What makes a good “Subject:” line?
• [7.7] How do I post a question about code that doesn’t work correctly?
• [7.8] Which newsgroup should I post my questions?
• [7.9] How do I get the FAQs for a particular newsgroup?
• [7.10] In addition to these FAQs, what other useful URLs might I be interested in?
• [31.3] Is IDL a Specification Language, an Implementation Language, or Both?
• [31.4] Does my implementation need to use Inheritance just because my IDL intrerface uses Inheritance?
• [31.5] How do I express Aggregation in IDL?

Changed FAQs:

• [22.7] Who creates Object References?
  (rewrote)
• [46.3] What if I Do Not Know the Name of the Object?
  (fixed a typo in the spelling of “BindingIterator”)

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[6.10] WHAT UPDATES WERE MADE TO THE CORBA FAQ FOR THE 1996-12 (DEC 1996) RELEASE?

New FAQs:

• [1.16] How can I get a Copy of all the “plaintext” files of the CORBA FAQ so I can read them Off-Line?
• [6.10] What updates were made to the CORBA FAQ for the 1996-12 (Dec 1996) release?

Changed FAQs:

• [1.15] How can I get a Copy of all the HTML files of the CORBA FAQ so I can read them Off-Line?
  (rewrote and added a one-click feature to get .zip, .tar.Z or .tar.gz format)

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[6.11] WHAT UPDATES WERE MADE TO THE CORBA FAQ FOR THE 1996-11 (NOV 1996) RELEASE?

New FAQs:

• [6.11] What updates were made to the CORBA FAQ for the 1996-11 (Nov 1996) release?

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[6.12] WHAT UPDATES WERE MADE TO THE CORBA FAQ FOR THE 1996-10 (OCT 1996) RELEASE?

New FAQs:

• [6.12] What updates were made to the CORBA FAQ for the 1996-10 (Oct 1996) release?
• [8.1] Can Distributed Computing Enhance my Performance?
• [8.2] How is a Distributed Database related to Distributed Computing?
• [8.3] Can Distributed Computing solve Business Problems?
• [9.1] What is a Distributed Object?
• [9.2] Are all Distributed Objects CORBA Objects?
• [9.3] Why should I develop Applications with Distributed Objects?
• [9.4] How are Distributed Objects actually implemented?
• [9.5] Should all my Objects be Distributed?
• [10.1] What is the Basic Functionality provided by CORBA?
• [10.2] What Advantages does CORBA provide?
• [10.3] What other types of Distributed Systems does CORBA compete with?
• [11.1] How can CORBA enable Client/Server Communication?
• [11.2] Do any Client/Server Limitations exist with CORBA?
• [12.1] I use Microsoft products; Why should I use CORBA and not DCOM?
• [12.2] Must I choose between DCOM and CORBA?
• [12.3] Is CORBA more Mature than DCOM?
• [12.4] What Advantages does DCOM have over CORBA?
• [16.1] Can CORBA Objects be accessed by Web Based Applications?
• [17.1] Can CORBA Allow Servers to cause Client Side Events or Notifications?
• [19.1] Why would Applications require Asynchronous Communications?
• [19.2] Does CORBA support Asynchronous Communication?
• [19.3] Are Application Threading and Asynchronous Communication related?
• [19.4] Are there Important Forms of Asynchronous Communication that Aren’t Supported Directly by CORBA?
• [21.1] Does CORBA define High Level Application Architectures?
• [21.2] Do Common Application Architectures Exist?
• [25.1] Can CORBA Applications be Tuned for Better Performance?
• [25.2] Do Different CORBA Implementations Perform at Significantly Different Levels?
• [25.3] What Types of Performance should I be Concerned With?
• [29.1] How are CORBA Objects Defined?
• [29.2] What Capabilities do CORBA Objects Possess?
• [33.1] How are object references obtained by applications?
• [41.1] What is the BOA?
• [41.2] What are the Four BOA Activation Policies for a CORBA Server?
• [41.3] Are there any other activation policies for CORBA objects?
• [44.1] What is an IOR?
• [44.2] Are IORs obtained in the Same Manner as Object References?
• [44.3] Can an Application refer to Objects implemented with Multiple CORBA Products?
• [44.4] Can CORBA Vendors Simplify Interoperability and the Process of Obtaining Other Vendor’s Object References?
• [46.1] What are the IDL Interfaces defined within the COSNaming Module?
• [46.2] How do I use a NameContext?
• [46.3] What if I Do Not Know the Name of the Object?

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[6.13] WHAT UPDATES WERE MADE TO THE CORBA FAQ FOR THE 1996-09 (SEP 1996) RELEASE?

New FAQs:

• [6.13] What updates were made to the CORBA FAQ for the 1996-09 (Sep 1996) release?
• [22.1] What is an Object Reference?
• [22.2] Why a Handle rather than a “Hard” Address?
• [22.3] For How Long is an Object Reference Valid?
• [22.4] What if I want a Persistent Reference?
• [22.5] I want to be an expert. How do I Stringify an Object Reference?
• [22.6] What is the Format of an Object Reference?
• [22.7] Who creates Object References?
• [22.8] How do I Compare References?
• [22.9] Great. What other Surprises are there with is_equivalent()?
• [22.10] Is that All of the Bad News about is_equivalent()?
• [22.11] So why don’t we just Compare Stringified References?
• [22.12] This sounds Too Complicated. Should I just learn DCOM instead?
• [22.13] Why do you say, “Most people never need this kind of knowledge”?
• [22.14] Then why did you just Drag us through the Mud?
• [22.15] How are Object References declared in C?
• [22.16] How are Object References handled in C++?
• [22.17] When do I use _var instead of _ptr?
• [22.18] What if I want to invoke Methods on an Object in another ORB?
• [22.19] Does an IOR have a Defined Format and, if so, Why?
• [22.20] What is the Format of an IOR?
• [22.21] What is a Tag?
• [22.22] What is a Profile?
• [22.23] What is the Difference between the two Types of Profiles?
• [22.24] Why did you say that the Specific Details Probably Shouldn’t Matter?
• [22.25] But how does my program use an IOR?
• [22.26] This Expert Stuff isn’t so tough. What about Stringifying an IOR?
• [27.1] Should I use Underscores (“_”) in the Names of Interfaces and/or Methods?

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[6.14] WHAT UPDATES WERE MADE TO THE CORBA FAQ FOR THE 1996-08 (AUG 1996) RELEASE?

New FAQs:

• [0] The CORBA FAQ — Frequently Asked Questions
• [1.1] The Authors (Alphabetically)
• [1.2] About Rob Appelbaum
• [1.5] About Marshall Cline
• [1.6] About Mike Girou
• [1.7] Copyright Notice
• [1.8] No Warranty
• [1.9] Copying Permissions
• [1.10] Trademarks
• [1.11] What the Intended Audience Looks Like
• [1.12] “Morality” in addition to just “Legality”
• [1.13] Tutorial
• [1.14] Four Different Ways to Navigate the CORBA FAQ
• [1.15] How can I get a Copy of all the HTML files of the CORBA FAQ so I can read them Off-Line?
• [2] Table of Contents — Overview
• [3] Table of Contents — Exhaustive
• [4] Alphabetical List of All FAQs
• [5] Subject Index
• [6.1] What is the chain of recently updated FAQs?
• [6.14] What updates were made to the CORBA FAQ for the 1996-08 (Aug 1996) release?

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