TABLE OF CONTENTS This chapter concludes the main part of this book. We presented some advanced CORBA technologies as well as topics that go beyond CORBA. CORBA is still being actively evolved by the OMG, and with the current dissemination of CORBA platforms, this will continue for a long time. In the meantime, Web Services have gotten a strong following. As we tried to argue in this chapter, there will never be an "either or" when it comes down to choosing the right middle-ware technology. Rather we must think carefully about when to use CORBA or Web Services. As is generally the case, there is no silver bullet. While CORBA and Web Services will remain key technologies for many applications, new challenges arise with new kinds of network infrastructures. As shown in the last section of this chapter, we must radically redefine the notion of middleware when it comes to ubiquitous computing and sensor networks. These areas are still subject to active research, but the prospects of new technologies, new infrastructures, and new paradigms are exciting.
