what is RMI / CORBA

[Frank Pope]

the topic says it all!

[Carl Trusiak]

RMI and CORBA are two methodologys for implementing distributed computing.
RMI (Remote Method Invocation) is pure java, it allows a java process to assess methods in java classes that are running in a seperate process. The other process can be running under a different version of the jvm and can be running on a seperate machine on the network or even across the internet. It consists of an RMI server which is running and a set of client interface classes that handle communication between the two processes using serialization.
CORBA (Common Object Request Brokering) is similar however, it isn't restricted to java. Any programming language can implement CORBA. It communicates through stubs and skeletons using IIOP.
Hope this helps

[George Brown]

Carl, that's a great explanation, I just wanted to add a description of the use of these, to expand on you explanation:
whereas RMI is used only between distributed (remote) Java objects, CORBA is often used to provide access to legacy systems by hiding them behind an interface and allowing a wide variety of other languages to access through its interfaces. That's where CORBA really stands out.
And some more jargon-busting ...
IIOP -- Internet Inter-ORB Protocol
ORB -- Object Request Broker (as in CORBA)
I know that when I started with these technologies it was all clear as mud, so I hope this goes some way to making it a bit less foggy for you...