|
COOTS
1998 Abstract
Programming Network Components Using NetPebbles: An Early Report
Ajay Mohindra, Apratim Purakayastha,
Deborra Zukowski, and Murthy Devarakonda
IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
Abstract
A network-centric application developer faces a number of
challenges, including distributed program design, efficient
remote object access, software reuse, and program deployment
issues. This level of complexity hinders the developer's ability
to focus on the application logic. NetPebbles removes this
complexity from the developer through a network-component based
scripting environment where remote object access and program
deployment are transparent to the developer. In NetPebbles, a
developer selects needed network components from a distributed
catalog, and then writes a script invoking its methods as if the
components are local. When the script is launched, the runtime
determines the component sites in the network and transparently
moves the script as needed. Using three simple examples with
different data flow patterns, we show that the NetPebbles
approach is superior to the traditional client/server systems
and mobile agent technologies because a scripting language is
easy to use, it requires less code, and the distributed systems
complexity is hidden from the programmer. This paper is an early
report on the NetPebbles project, describing the motivation,
design, prototype implementation, and the experiments using the
NetPebbles approach..
- View the full text of this paper in
HTML form and
PDF form.
- If you need the latest Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can download it from Adobe's site.
- To become a USENIX Member, please see our Membership Information.
|
Need help? Use our Contacts page.
Technical Program