On Tue, 8 Jun 2004 09:58, Andrew Ho wrote: > Publishing an API is not sufficient. We also need adequate tools to create > modules that use the API.
In a framework for modules as I propose it, you agree on someplatform and language RPC mechanism. XML-RPC would fit the bill, except for the lack of standardized authentication in the protocol definition. CORBA would fit the bill but can be a bit painful to implement. The API you publish is the name of the callable functions, their parameters and return values. Doesn't really matter whether it is a formal machine interpretable definition (like the CORBA IDL) or just documentation on a web site. Of course it is sufficient to interoperate to have such published API - once we agree on using it, everything else is easy. Horst
