November 1998 -- Distributed Computing


FEATURES

NCSA SYMERA

by Pat Flanigan and Jawed Karim

NCSA Symera is a distributed-object and cluster-management system with application support libraries built on Microsoft's Distributed Component Object Model (DCOM). Our authors examine Symera, then convert a stand-alone Windows program into a Symera application that uses distributed resources.

A CORBA BEAN FRAMEWORK

by David Houlding

David presents a framework based on the JavaBeans Standard that provides a layer of abstraction over CORBA -- and, in particular, the CORBA Dynamic Invocation Interface (DII) -- to encapsulate its complexity and facilitate visual rapid application development.

THE MICO CORBA-COMPLIANT SYSTEM

by Arno Puder

MICO is a freely available CORBA implementation that supports IDL-to-C++ mapping, Dynamic Invocation Interface (DII), IIOP as native protocol, nested method invocations, and more.

CREATING ELECTRONIC MARKETS

by Ming Fan, Jan Stallaert, and Andrew B. Whinston

Our authors describe a web-based Financial Bundle Trading System that lets you access financial markets using Java applets embedded in web browsers.

THE GEF GENERAL EXCEPTION-HANDLING LIBRARY

by Bruce W. Bigby

GEF is a general exception-handling and contract-programming facility for C programmers. With GEF, its special control macros, and other support functions, you can separate the main purpose of a function from its exception-handling, contract-validation, and resource-reclamation code.

WINDOWS CE DEVICE DRIVER DEVELOPMENT, PART II

by James Y. Wilson

In the second installment of this two-part article, Jim identifies the basic skills you need to develop Windows CE device drivers, and implements a driver for an onboard peripheral device.

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

FILE FORMATS & AUTOMOTIVE DATA ACQUISITION

by Lee R. Copp

When it comes to automotive data acquisition, the files generated while a vehicle is being tested are as different and varied as the vehicles themselves. Lee presents a tool that enables viewing, filtering, or analysis of this disparate data.

INTERNET PROGRAMMING

THE WIDL SPECIFICATION

by Lynn Monson

The Web Interface Definition Language (WIDL) is an XML file format for describing programmatic interfaces to the Web. Borrowing from the object community's ORB ideas, WIDL describes an abstract interface to a "service" existing on the Web.

PROGRAMMER'S TOOLCHEST

EXAMINING THE WIN32 DEBUG API

by Fritz Lowrey

The Win32 Debug API is a set of functions that provides a number of useful tools for both the debugger and the debugged. Since these functions are supported by the operating system, it doesn't matter whether the program being debugged has been compiled or optimized in Debug or Release mode, nor does it make any difference what language or tool you opt to use.

BUILDING SOLID CODE

by Wes Faler

The company Wes works for has refined its development process to produce well-structured, clean source code. Wes presents this process, along with notes on the tools they use.

COLUMNS

PROGRAMMING PARADIGMS

by Michael Swaine

Michael examines Jini, Sun's system architecture for distributed computing. Jini embodies a model for how devices and software connect on a network and how distributed systems can operate.

C PROGRAMMING

by Al Stevens

Al updates a C++ class template library that implements undo operations of interactive programs. The library assumes that the user modifies a document class object and might want to undo those modifications in reverse order.

JAVA Q&A

by Jason W. Purdy

Jason examines the drag-and-drop (DnD) capabilities of both JavaSoft's Java Foundation Classes (JFC) and Microsoft's Windows Foundation Classes (WFC).

ALGORITHM ALLEY

by Jon Bentley and Robert Sedgewick

Jon and Robert describe a new algorithm for sorting strings that combines the best of quicksort and radix sort.

DR. ECCO'S OMNIHEURIST CORNER

by Dennis E. Shasha

Dr. Ecco and Liane use "directed evolution" to cure the ills that ail some.

PROGRAMMER'S BOOKSHELF

by Gregory V. Wilson

Greg examines a bevy of books this month, including Web Site Usability: A Designer's Guide, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, Official Guide to Programming with CGI.pm, Jesse Liberty's Clouds to Code, Advanced Programming Language Design, and Practical Software Configuration Management.

FORUM

EDITORIAL

by Jonathan Erickson

LETTERS

by you

NEWS & VIEWS

by the DDJ staff

OF INTEREST

by Eugene Eric Kim

SWAINE'S FLAMES

by Michael Swaine


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