ANNOUNCE: Workshop on Mobile Code

To: w3c-tech@w3.org
Date: Wed, 17 May 1995 18:53:44 -0400
From: "Daniel W. Connolly" 

A number of exciting developments related to "mobile code" on the network -- and in particular the web -- are on the horizon. To foster communication between groups and to discuss interoperability issues, we're hosting a workshop.

What: W3C Workshop on Mobile Code on the Web

Where: MIT Lab for Computer Science, NE43-518

When: July 5, 9am - 5pm

There were a number of scheduling conflicts surrounding this event, and the final date that was chosen is somewhat unfortunate. But it's the best date available.

For background, see: Mobile Code and Distributed Objects

Mon May 15 21:06:32 1995

Modern information systems tend to be distributed hypermedia applications. The web is no exception. Distributed applications have a few more wrinkles than conventional applications: they span address spaces, hardware architectures, and even administrative domains.

Techniques for distributing applications across address spaces include simple RPC systems, distributed object systems such as CORBA, and hybrid systems such as DCE (not to mention session-oriented protocols like NNTP, SMTP, and even HTTP to some extent).

For an application to span administrative domains, there must be access control mechanisms, usually including authentication, to maintain security and system integrity.

Most network protocols address the issue of heterogenous hardware platforms, including byte order of multi-byte integer representations. But an emerging technique for distributing applications involves "mobile code" -- code that can be transmitted across the network and executed on the other end.

Daniel W. Connolly        "We believe in the interconnectedness of all things"
Research Technical Staff, MIT/W3C
             http://www.w3.org/hypertext/WWW/People/Connolly