What is an Object Request Broker (ORB)?

Looking for a clear explanation of what an Object Request Broker (ORB) is? You’ve come to the right place! In this blog post, we’ll demystify the term and provide you with all the information you need to understand this crucial concept in distributed computing.

Understanding Object Request Broker (ORB)

In the world of distributed computing, where software components are spread across multiple machines, it becomes essential to establish communication channels between these components. This is where an Object Request Broker (ORB) comes into play.

An Object Request Broker acts as an intermediary, allowing objects residing on different machines to communicate and interact with one another. When a client object wants to invoke a method on a remote object, it submits a request to the ORB. The ORB then takes care of marshaling the parameters, sending them over the network, and eventually invoking the method on the target object’s machine.

Here are a few key aspects of ORBs:

1. Remote Method Invocation: ORBs provide a mechanism called Remote Method Invocation (RMI) that allows objects to invoke methods on remote objects as if they were local. This simplifies the complexity of dealing with network communication and enables transparent interaction between distributed components.
2. Object Serialization: In order to transmit objects across the network, they need to be serialized into a format that can be sent and reconstructed on the receiving end. ORBs handle this serialization process, ensuring that objects are correctly packed and unpacked during the communication.
3. Location Transparency: ORBs provide location transparency, meaning that client objects do not need to be aware of the physical location of the remote objects they interact with. This allows for scalability and flexibility in distributed systems, as components can be moved or added without impacting the clients.

Overall, an Object Request Broker plays a crucial role in the seamless integration of distributed software components. Through its features like Remote Method Invocation, object serialization, and location transparency, an ORB simplifies the complexities of distributed computing, allowing developers to focus on building robust applications without worrying about the intricacies of network communication.

Conclusion

In summary, an Object Request Broker (ORB) is a middleware component that facilitates communication between objects residing on different machines. By providing mechanisms for remote method invocation, object serialization, and location transparency, ORBs enable seamless integration and interaction between software components in distributed systems.

So, the next time you come across the term Object Request Broker, you’ll know exactly what it means and how it contributes to the world of distributed computing!