To: new-httpd@apache.org
cc: tomcat-dev@jakarta.apache.org,
  JServ Development <jserv-dev@list.working-dogs.com>
Subject: Re: [Proposal] "Relayed" Apache API Project 
In-reply-to: Your message of "Sat, 05 Feb 2000 13:47:28 +0100."
             <389C1BE0.48BC6B40@apache.org>
Date: Sat, 05 Feb 2000 20:03:35 -0800
From: "Roy T. Fielding" <fielding@kiwi.ICS.UCI.EDU>
Message-ID: <200002052003.aa11957@gremlin-relay.ics.uci.edu>
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Status: O

>I know almost nothing about Corba so I can't really say anything here.
>But if we remove all the Corba-ish stuff from the orb and use IIOP like
>we use AJP today, I don't think it's a huge issue.

Corba is nothing without the compiled IDL interfaces and object ids.
Using IIOP to transmit a fixed subset will simply add overhead to
whatever it is that you are sending -- eventually it will encounter
an ORB that wants to negotiate or broker the interface, and your simple
implementation will just puke and die.  (Of course, the same happens
to any ORB implementation that meets up with an ORB from another
vendor who hasn't cross-tested for compatibility, but that is a much
longer diatribe than I care to get into at the moment).

I am working on a tokenized, self-descriptive, bi-directional messaging
protocol that will have the capability to replace HTTP.  However, it will
still be optimized for streaming transfer of data, and will simply be
"efficient" for small control messages.  It is also caught amongst
too many other requests for my time, so I wouldn't suggest waiting for 
me to finish.

If what you want is to add an extension to the existing Apache hook
mechanism such that the hook invokes an RPC interface, then you should
just use an existing RPC protocol with a well-defined marshalling.
However, I can tell you with absolute certainty that it will be the
wrong architecture for a high-end server implementation, so eventually
it will be replaced with an architecture that operates directly on
the data stream.

Anyway, hopefully we'll have time to brainstorm some of this stuff
at ApacheCon next month.

....Roy