Orbix integration with Java puts CORBA on the Internet

IONA announces Internet Object Request Broker

January 22, 1996, Dublin, Ireland: In a move that dramatically increases
the power and scope of Internet applications, IONA Technologies today
announced plans to extend the object technology paradigm to the World Wide
Web. IONA will provide a full integration between its market leading CORBA
implementation, Orbix, and the recently unveiled Internet development
language, Java.

Current Web technologies give users crude access to the power of the
Internet--with http users can only really pull pages of text and graphics
back and forth across the net. Java increases the value of the Internet by
bringing application logic into the picture--Graphical User Interface
functionality can now be added to a Web page. Integration with Orbix adds
another dimension, offering the ability to perform semantically rich
client/server operations.

The combination of Orbix and the Java programming language enables the
creation of downloadable applets which are capable of accessing multiple,
shared backend services located across the Internet.

"The success of the Web is in its simplicity. It is hard to imagine
something simpler than http and URLs. However, that very simplicity is
also a limitation. Building client/server, multi-user applications is
impossible with current Web technology. Even Java by itself does not
support a client/server paradigm," says Annrai O'Toole, chief technical
officer at IONA Technologies. "We are levelling the Internet playing
field. Orbix allows programmers to write applications in common
programming languages such as C++, Visual Basic, SmallTalk, Ada95 or Java.
These applications can now reach out and conduct civilized and meaningful
conversations with other well behaved objects on the Internet."

With Internet users already up against the limits of Web technology, many
non-standard extensions are being added to http to help it meet more
demanding user requirements. IONA's object-oriented approach based on the
CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) standard, combined with
popular language and platform support, enables developers to create a
richer range and scale of application for the Internet.

CORBA is the de facto standard for developing distributed object-oriented
applications across enterprise networks. "The combination of Orbix and
Java takes CORBA beyond the enterprise and into the global sphere. Orbix
and Java together enable much more than simple Internet applications--they
provide a truly portable platform for building and deploying large-scale,
distributed client/server applications across both public and private
networks," says Larry Podmolik, Director of Technology at STR, an OO
consulting firm in Chicago, IL.

"IONA's Orbix already works across 20 different operating systems from
Windows to Unix, enabling developers to create truly distributed
object-oriented applications. Today programmers are using Orbix to
integrate Visual Basic client code with powerful C++ server applications.
Java, Ada and SmallTalk implementations of Orbix bring us closer to
achieving the goal of universal application integration," O'Toole adds.

This announcement also spotlights a new development designed to take object
technology into the home for the first time. "Computers are
commodities--more home computers were sold in the US last year than
television sets. The growth of the Web and the Internet demonstrates that
the value of computing lies in applications, and Orbix was designed to
enable applications to communicate in an environment such as the
Internet," says Dr Chris Horn, chairman and chief architect at IONA
Technologies.

Based in Dublin, Ireland, and Boston, MA., IONA Technologies is the world's
leading provider of CORBA conforming solutions. Its principal product,
Orbix, was launched in June 1993 as the first full and complete
implementation of the Object Management Group's (OMG's) Common Object
Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) standard. With Orbix, programmers can
develop distributed, object-oriented applications following a consistent
and straightforward, standards-based model.

Orbix currently runs on 20 operating systems from a single code base.
Platforms include: Windows 95, Windows 3.1x, Windows NT, OS/2, Macintosh
System 7.5, twelve different Unix systems, OpenVMS AXP and the real-time
operating systems VxWorks, QNX and LynxOS. Orbix for Windows and Windows
NT uses OCX technology allowing OLE-enabled applications to transparently
invoke remote and local CORBA objects. IONA has integrated Orbix with
ODI's ObjectStore object-oriented database, Isis Distributed Systems'
reliable distributed computing technology and a variety of third-party
middleware and tools.

Orbix is used by thousands of developers world-wide in large and small
corporations including: Boeing Commercial Aircraft Group, Motorola's
IRIDIUM and Chemical Bank. All versions of Orbix interoperate seamlessly.
IONA is partly owned by SunSoft, Inc. In December 1995 Orbix was awarded
product of the year by Unix Review Magazine.

Availability

Orbix for Java will go on limited release in Q2 1996.

For Further Information Contact: Tom Golden or Tara O'Sullivan

 IONA Technologies, Inc.      IONA Technologies Ltd.
 55 Fairbanks Blvd.,          8-34 Percy Place,
 Marlboro, MA 01752.          Dublin, Ireland.
 Tel: (508) 460 6868          +353 1 6686522
 Fax: (508) 460 6099          +353 1 6686573

email: tgolden@iona.com, www: http://www.iona.com

In the USA or Canada call: 1 800 orbix4u (672 4948)
 
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