Short Note: Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA)

CORBA stands for Common Object Request Broker Architecture. It is a standard from the Object Management Group (OMG) that allows software objects written in different languages and running on different machines to communicate.

Main components

1. Object Request Broker (ORB): locates remote objects and routes requests/responses.
2. IDL (Interface Definition Language): defines interfaces independently of a programming language.
3. Client stub: provides a local-looking interface for invoking remote methods.
4. Server skeleton/adapter: receives requests and dispatches them to the object implementation.
5. Object implementation: performs the requested business operation.

Working: the client calls a method through its stub; the ORB transports the request to the server-side adapter; the target object executes it; the response returns through the ORB.

Advantages: language and platform interoperability, location transparency and support for distributed systems.

Limitations: complex configuration, interoperability and firewall issues, and greater operational overhead compared with many modern web APIs.

Conclusion: CORBA provides a standard middleware architecture for invoking distributed objects across languages and platforms.