Distributed Object

A distributed object is an object which is resident on one computer and for which methods can be invoked associated with code resident on other computers. (Ince, 2002, p.84). A good distributed objects technology should totally hide the underlying communication details from the programmer.

CORBA, which is a multi-language technology, and RMI, which is a Java-based technology.

Distributed objects technology works by intercepting calls to distributed objects and executing system code which carries out the process of locating objects and sending data and execution instructions.

The architecture of a distributed objects system:

The main advantage of using a distributed objects scheme lies in the fact that it has a 100 per cent fit with object-oriented technology: that classes identified during the analysis and design phases can be immediately implemented in terms of classes in some programming language, deposited on some remote computer which forms a component of a distributed system and reused without any modification.

The main disadvantage with distributed objects currently being experienced by developers is that their performance, certainly compared with message passing tech- nologies, is inferior.

The mechanisms for developing distributed objects are straightforward and involve either processing source code or an intermediate language.  (Ince, 2002, p0.85-86)

Ince, D. (2002). Developing Distributed and E-commerce Applications (2nd ed.).