Jiniology

Jiniology

Call on extensible RMI
Remote Method Invocation (RMI) has become a standard communication mechanism between remote Java objects. In spite of that popularity, the lack of a robust security framework has hindered RMI's acceptance for wide-area distributed computing. The latest RMI framework, Jini Extensible Remote Invocation (JERI), introduced as part of the Jini 2.0 release, features a powerful, highly configurable RMI security mechanism. This article presents an extensible RMI overview and demonstrates JERI's configuration features.
Frank Sommers, December 2003

Jini Starter Kit 2.0 tightens Jini's security framework
Security for distributed systems based on mobile Java code is the theme of Sun Microsystems' new Jini Starter Kit, JSK 2.0. JSK 2.0 incorporates three new specifications: a new programming model and infrastructure for Jini services, a new implementation of Java RMI (Remote Method Invocation), and several changes to existing Jini tools and utilities. This article introduces JSK 2.0's security-related features.
Frank Sommers, May 2003

Jini's relevance emerges, Part 2
In Part 2 of this interview, Sun Microsystems Fellow and Chief Engineer Rob Gingell compares the ability of Web services and Jini to deal with network failure and system change. He also discusses polyarchic systems, intellectual property, the JDK's role in relation to Jini, and Liberty Alliance.
Frank Sommers, August 2002

Jini's relevance emerges, Part 1
JavaWorld columnist Frank Sommers talks with Sun Microsystems' Fellow and Chief Engineer Rob Gingell. In Part 1 of this interview, Gingell discusses the role of Jini in Sun's new software organization; the relationship between Jini, Web services, and the Sun ONE (Open Network Environment) initiative; and the rationale for document-centered Web services versus mobile object systems. (4,600 words; August 16, 2002).
Frank Sommers, August 2002

Java's secret weapon
Set in the backdrop of JiniFest 2002, the Jini community's first technology showcase, this article revisits the original Jini vision, surveys Jini's progress since the technology's introduction in 1998, and suggests the roles Jini might play in Java's future.
Frank Sommers, August 2002

Jini-talk with Jim Waldo
Frank Sommers and Bill Venners recently caught up with Jini architect Jim Waldo at JavaWorld's San Francisco office. In this interview, Waldo talks about the impact of mobility on distributed systems, Jini as a tool to reengineer the corporate MIS infrastructure, the importance of type systems, and the semantic Web.
Frank Sommers With Bill Venners, November 2001

Survival of the fittest Jini services, Part 3
The Jini Transaction Specification defines a transaction coordinator for the two-phase commit (2PC) protocol, as well as a default transaction semantics guaranteeing ACID properties. This article explains the default transaction semantics based on the two-phase locking (2PL) protocol, and offers guidelines for its implementation in services based on activatable RMI objects.
Frank Sommers, October 2001

Survival of the fittest Jini services, Part 1
In the near future, Frank Sommers argues, all information capable of digital capture will be recorded, and made available via the Web in the form of active, persistent objects. The primary consumers of this information will be machines (software), which will let people intelligently use increasingly larger portions of that vast resource. This will motivate the industry to develop dependable methods of software-to-software interaction on the network, where unreliable components will be eliminated automatically, resulting in the survival of the fittest services. This article is the first in a four-part series on designing and deploying highly dependable Jini services. (6,000 words)
Frank Sommers, April 2001

Browse user interfaces for Jini services
The ServiceUI specification developed by the Jini.org community defines a suggested procedure for attaching user interfaces to Jini services. In this article, Jeffrey Peden -- a new contributor to the Jiniology column -- introduces you to a simple ServiceUI-based example service. Then he shows you how to build an application for browsing and launching user interfaces for Jini services.
Jeffrey Peden, March 2001

Object mobility in the Jini environment
The more capable a software package, the more installation and configuration it typically requires. Jini promises to reverse this trend by locating objects on the network based on their functionality or object type, and then letting clients download the objects and code needed to interface with these services. New Jiniologycolumnist Frank Sommers provides background to the use of mobile objects in Jini, and describes the Java class loading and object serialization architectures that make mobile code possible. He then offers a tutorial on setting up Jini services so that you can make your code available for download by clients. (5,000 words)
Frank Sommers, January 2001

Using objects in place of documents for server-client interaction, Part 3
In the first two parts of this series, Bill Venners discussed the advantages and disadvantages of using objects in place of documents as the nexus of client/service interaction. In the conclusion of this series, he compares the two approaches again. But this time, he compares objects and documents from a user's perspective. Whereas the previous articles in the series focused on clients that operate autonomously, this article focuses on clients that connect network-delivered services to human users. (4,700 words)
Bill Venners, November 2000

Make room for JavaSpaces, Part 6
So far, this series has presented the fundamentals of JavaSpaces programming, and shown you how applications are based on passing around (writing, reading, and taking) entries through spaces. In this final installment, Susanne Hupfer introduces you to the concept of distributed data structures -- the common set of building blocks that are used in practically every space-based program. Then she shows you how to build and use a versatile channel distributed data structure, and illustrates its use in a distributed MP3-encoding application. (4,500 words)
Susanne Hupfer, October 2000

Objects versus documents for server-client interaction, Part 2
In this three-part series, Bill Venners compares the traditional approach to defining client/server interaction, using protocols and documents, with Jini's strategy of using objects and interfaces. In Part 1, Venners demonstrated how the two approaches define the interaction between a client and a newsfeed server. Part 2 fleshes out the advantages and disadvantages of objects and documents for sending a service across the network to software when no client-side user is present. (4,000 words)
Bill Venners, July 2000

Make room for JavaSpaces, Part 5
A space-based compute server is a powerful, all-purpose computing engine that accepts tasks, computes them, and returns results. In this article, Susanne Hupfer revisits the compute server developed in Part 2 and points out its shortcomings in terms of fault tolerance and true scalability. Then, she shows how to use Jini transactions to make the application more robust and multiple JavaSpace services to make it more scalable. (3,000 words)
Susanne Hupfer, June 2000

Objects versus documents for server-client interaction, Part 1
In this article, the first of three parts, Bill Venners compares the traditional approach to client-server interaction, using protocols and documents, with Jini's approach of using objects and interfaces. In Jini's approach, unlike the document approach of HTML and XML, servers interact with client programs by sending objects across the network. This first part looks at how objects and documents differ when servers interact with client programs that have no client-side user. (4,000 words)
Bill Venners, May 2000

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