Newsletter sign-up
View all newsletters

Enterprise Java Newsletter
Stay up to date on the latest tutorials and Java community news posted on JavaWorld

JavaWorld.com > Java Enterprise Edition >

Middleware leader Iona takes Java seriously

Find out why Java developers in the enterprise should look at Iona's Orbix products

By Mariva H. Aviram, JavaWorld.com, 02/01/99

  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • SlashDot
  • Stumble
  • del.icio.us
  • Technorati
  • dzone

February 5, 1999 Java developers who bridge enterprise systems together have good reason to keep tabs on Iona, the current leader in middleware technology. At the second annual Iona user conference, Iona World, Iona officials promised great benefits to developers by proving its commitment to Java connectivity and support. Iona also announced the latest release of its Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) middleware product, Orbix 3; the latest release of the Object Transaction Monitor (OTM), OrbixOTM 3.0; the recent acquisition of EJBHome Limited, a UK-based maker of Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) development tools; an agreement with Sun Microsystems to join the Java Community Licensing Program; and more information on OrbixWeb 3.1, the affordable tool that allows Java developers to access applications written in common enterprise languages like C++, Cobol, and PL/1.

C3 middleware architecture

The Dublin-based middleware company offers several products for IT departments and consultants to use when bringing together back-, middle-, and front-office technologies. All of Iona's products follow its "C3" vision of middleware architecture: containers, which provide the specific type of application involved, such as security, transactions, database management, messaging, or naming; components, which serve as the development layer of the model, typically involving Java, C++, or mainframe legacy programming; and connectors, which are large-scale, often proprietary solutions such as Microsoft or Oracle back-end software, like an ODBC database or SQL server, as well as mainframe and minicomputer database applications.

Iona's C3 architecture provides a model for any



The C3 vision may give developers the impression that Iona's products are easy to use and implement, but even David Clarke, director of research and planning at Iona, admits that implementing middleware -- from any vendor -- has never been easy.

"Most promises by middleware vendors are overblown," Clarke explains. "Most developers assume that you can either fire up vi or emacs and create your own solution or install a magical application out of the box that takes care of everything. The truth is that successfully implementing middleware is somewhere in between, and Orbix is therefore a work in progress." Iona users agree that Orbix doesn't make impossible things easy -- it just makes them possible, Clarke says.

OrbixOTM

Following the C3 architecture model, OrbixOTM 3.0 fully integrates Java -- the component -- into the container by supporting Java Names, Secure Socket Layer (SSL) V3.0, Object Transaction Service (OTS), Java management libraries, and the interaction of Java with OrbixEvents (the implementation of the CORBA Event Service Specification) and Orbix Wonderwall (Iona's CORBA-compliant firewall access control). Specifically, this means Java developers can use multithreaded Java names, Internet Inter-ORB Protocol (IIOP), typed events, the Java management graphic user interface (GUI) and Interface Definition Language (IDL), both client and server transactions, and more. Skilled Java developers could, in less than a year, set up a robust and customized e-commerce transaction system with the reliability of a legacy system on the back end and the convenience and flexibility of Java-based administration on the front end.

  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • SlashDot
  • Stumble
  • del.icio.us
  • Technorati
  • dzone
Comment
Login
Forgot your account info?
Add comment
Anonymous comments subject to approval. Register here for member benefits.
Have a JavaWorld account? Log in here. Register now for a free account.
Resources
  • General information about Iona http://www.iona.com/
  • Information about the Iona World conference http://www.ionaworld.com/
  • Specific information about OrbixWeb, including an overview, information on Orbix Wonderwall, real world projects, white papers, and pricing and availability http://www.iona.com/info/products/orbixweb/
  • Search or browse the Iona knowledge base for information on Orbix, OrbixWeb, Wonderwall, OrbixOTM, OrbixOTS, OrbixNames, OrbixEvents, OrbixSSL, OrbixManager, GUITools, and more http://www.iona.com/online/support/kb/
  • Free Enterprise JavaBeans support and information at EJBHome http://www.ejbhome.com/
  • Read about Symantec's partnership with Iona http://www.symantec.com/press/n980831b.html
  • If you want more information about CORBA, an excellent jumpstation is the CORBA and OMG Information Resources Web page http://www.acl.lanl.gov/CORBA/
  • Find in-depth discussions and explanations of the Java-CORBA interface in the January 1999 edition of Application Development Trends -- read the "CORBA in the Age of Java" features http://www.adtmag.com/
  • Start with Max Dolgicer's "CORBA and JavaMarriage or just serious dating?" http://www.adtmag.com/pub/jan99/fe101b99.htm
  • An excellent white paper (available in print form only -- contact Oracle) on incorporating Java in the enterprise is Rakesh Dhoopar's "Deploying Enterprise JavaBeans in the Oracle ServerManaging Your Database Environment," published in January 1999.
  • Get more information about Iona's products at the Iona WebStore http://www.iona.com/online/webstore/
  • Check out Iona's main competitionInprise VisiBroker http://www.inprise.com/visibroker/