[12] CHOOSING BETWEEN CORBA AND DCOM
(Part of the CORBA FAQ, Copyright © 1996)

[12.1] I USE MICROSOFT PRODUCTS; WHY SHOULD I USE CORBA AND NOT DCOM?

[Recently rewrote answer totally. (7/1997). Click here to go to the next FAQ in the “chain” of recent changes]

DCOM is a Microsoft specific distribution solution. CORBA products are available from over 20 different vendors. CORBA products support Microsoft and non Microsoft operating systems. CORBA is an excellent mechanism to bridge between Microsoft desk tops and UNIX servers.

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[12.2] MUST I CHOOSE BETWEEN DCOM AND CORBA?

[Recently added first sentence (7/1997). Click here to go to the next FAQ in the “chain” of recent changes]

No. Distributed applications can be developed using both CORBA and DCOM. For example, client application might be developed to access a set of OLE automation objects, and OLE automation objects might in turn access CORBA objects running on a non-Microsoft platform such a UNIX. The OMG has defined a COM<->CORBA interworking specification which standardizes this sort of bridging.

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[12.3] IS CORBA MORE MATURE THAN DCOM?

CORBA has existed since 1990. Commercial implementations have been available since 1992. DCOM was made available in beta form in 1996. CORBA has had more time to mature. There are also a large number of different companies developing CORBA ORBs. This level of competition increases the robustness of CORBA solutions on the whole.

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[12.4] WHAT ADVANTAGES DOES DCOM HAVE OVER CORBA?

DCOM is well suited to front-end application development. If entire distributed application runs under Microsoft platforms, DCOM might be a good choice. DCOM can also be used with CORBA. The question is not always should I use DCOM or CORBA?

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