ObjectWeb

by Gérard Vandôme

ObjectWeb is an Open Source software community created at the end of 1999 by France Telecom R&D, Bull/Evidian and INRIA. Its goal is to develop innovative middleware components available under an Open Source licence. These components can be used to build distributed platforms that can be adapted to specific application requirements.

ObjectWeb aims to define and implement a component-based, efficient and scalable middleware architecture which can be easily configured and adapted to different application domains. Targeted systems may range from small objects of nomadic computing to large application servers for electronic commerce. ObjectWeb is not targeted to the definition of new standards, but to the development of a coherent set of high-quality Open Source middleware components, including implementations of major standards in the area of distributed systems. The ObjectWeb code base already supports most of the relevant middleware standards, such as Sun’s EJB™ and OMG CORBA.

ObjectWeb Consortium
ObjectWeb is organised as an open international consortium hosted by INRIA. The technical work is organised in projects corresponding to the development of the technical components of the ObjectWeb distributed infrastructure. Any individual, organisation or company can become member of ObjectWeb.

The ObjectWeb code base represents an industrial-strength platform. This code base is already widely used, for operational applications, experimental services and advanced distributed applications (in particular in the fields of telecommunications and enterprise infrastructure applications).

ObjectWeb already fosters industrial activity and will actively continue to do so, in particular through companies and start-ups, which are members of ObjectWeb and offer value-added solutions exploiting the ObjectWeb code base. By joining ObjectWeb, members are participating in a wide community providing them with the Open Source Middleware they need for the support of their distributed applications.

ObjectWeb Projects
ObjectWeb hosts technical projects providing support for the main standards in the area of distributed systems. The main projects currently running are:

• Jonathan is an adaptable distributed object platform, which currently provides several personalities, including one compliant with the OMG CORBA specifications and another with the RMI™ specification.
• JOnAS (Java Open Application Server) is a distributed platform compliant with the EJB™ (Enterprise Java Beans) specifications. JOnAS provides object distribution, security, distributed transactions and object persistency support according to these specifications. JOnAS also provides JMS™ (Java Messaging Service) and JCA™ (Java Connector Architecture) support through its integration with JORAM and JORM.
• JORAM (Java Open Reliable Asyn-chronous Messaging) is an Open Source implementation of the JMS™ (Java Messaging Service) specifications. JORAM provides a MOM (Message Oriented Middleware) built on top of the A3 (Agent Anytime Anywhere) distributed agent technology.
• JORM (Java Object Repository Mapping) is an adaptable persistence service offering various personalities, including one compliant with the CMP EJB™ specification and another with the JDO™ (Java Data Objects) specification. JORM provides object persistency through different secondary storage supports, such as files, relational databases or object-oriented databases. JORM includes an implementation of the JCA™ (Java Connector Architecture) specifications.
• OpenCCM (Open CORBA Component Model platform) is the first publicly available Open Source implementation of the CCM (CORBA Component Model) defined by the OMG (Object Management Group). OpenCCM allows design, implementation, compiling, packaging, deployment, and the execution of distributed applications compliant with the OMG’s CORBA Component Model. It includes a complete OMG IDL3 compiler, an OMG IDL3 Repository, generators for CCM’s OMG IDL2 mapping and extended Java component skeletons, a Java component server to host Java components, and a distributed deployment infrastructure.
• RmiJdbc is a remote JDBC ™ driver which, in conjunction with a local JDBC driver, allows remote access to a relational database through RMI™.

These projects are regularly extended in order to provide enhancements and new functionalities. New ObjectWeb projects will also be created in order to better satisfy emerging needs.

The ObjectWeb initiative is supported by various projects: Parol, sponsored by the RNRT (Réseau National de Recherches en Télécommunications), IMPACT, sponsored by RNTL (Réseau National des Technologies Logicielles) , and other French and European projects.

Java, EJB, JMS, J2EE and all Java-based trademarks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the US and other countries. Bull is independent of Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Link:
http://www.objectweb.org/

Please contact:
Gérard Vandôme, INRIA
Tel: +33 4 76 61 54 87
E-mail: contact@objectweb.org