Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture

Chapter 7. Distribution Strategies

Objects have been around for a while, and sometimes it seems that, ever since they were created, folks have wanted to distribute them. However, distribution of objects, or indeed of anything else, has a lot more pitfalls than many people realize [Waldo et al.], especially when they’re under the influence of vendors’ cozy brochures. This chapter is about some of these hard lessons—lessons I’ve seen many of my clients learn the hard way.

The Allure of Distributed Objects

There is a recurring presentation that I used to see two or three times a year during design reviews. Proudly the system architect of a new OO system lays out his plan for a new distributed object system—let’s pretend it’s a some kind of ordering ...