Common Object Request Broker Architecture
CORBA
(CORBA) An Object Management Group specification which provides a standard messaging interface between distributed objects.
The original CORBA specification (1.1) has been revised through version 2 (CORBA 2) with the latest specification being version 3 (CORBA 3). In its most basic form CORBA consists of the Interface Definition Language (IDL) and the Dynamic Invocation Interface (DII).
The IDL definition is complied into a Stub (client) and Skeleton (server) component that communicate through an Object Request Broker (ORB). When an ORB determines that a request is to a remote object, it may execute the request by communicating with the remote ORB.
The Corba IDL can be mapped to a number of languages including C, C++, Java, COBOL, Smalltalk, Ada, Lisp, Python, and IDLscript. CORBA ORBs are widely available for a number of platforms. The OMG standard for inter-ORB communication is IIOP, this ensures that all CORBA 2 compliant ORBS are able to interoperate.
See also COSS, Component Object Model, RMI.