Methods and Arguments

We can handle method references by simply sending the method number, rather than the name as in the previous slide.
Method arguments and return values can be handled by serializing them and sending them along with the method call.

Object	Machine	Obj ID		Obj ID	Object
Client				m.sc.edu (Server)
o	m.sc.edu	101	—101:calc(F f)→	101	o

Upon receipt of this method call, the Server must determine if f is a local or remote object. If its remote, it must go back to the client (which is now a Foo server) and to access f's data and method members.
This is getting very hard!
- Both end up being client and server.
- How does one program find the machines that are server for a particular object? We should have some kind of naming service.
- In our scheme, a return-by-value forces the client to create a new object, which the server also did (double work).
Luckily, Java RMI, CORBA, and DCOM, are all implemented solutions to this problem. So, use them!