- IDL is a specification language only
- CORBA objects are implemented in a particular language
- What is the connection between IDL and implementation?
- A language mapping
- A language mapping describes how each IDL type is represented in for a particular language
- The OMG maintains standard language mappings for some languages: C, C++, Java, Smalltalk, etc.
- Other language mappings are maintained informally: Perl, Python, Lisp, etc.
- A language mapping is generally implemented in the form of an IDL compiler
- Takes IDL as input and produces language specific definitions corresponding to the IDL
- In the case of C++, the output is a set of C++ types (mostly class definitions, but some structs, unions, etc).
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