IPC

IPC : Inter-Process Communication

About IPC Protocols

A formal IPC protocol will require that some structure will be made, upon the information that would be shared, among processes, via the IPC protocol.

Of course, each IPC protocol is designed, according to the intentions of the agency whom designed the protocol. For example, CORBA is made, according to the OMG architecture. XML-RPC and SOAP are made, according to constraints of XML and the protocol, HTTP.

Same-host IPC and Networked IPC

There are some protocols, which are made for supporting IPC, across network hosts; such may be categorized, as being remote procedure call (RPC) protocols. (Of course, the term "remote" might seem, ever, like something of a quaint misnomer. An RPC protocol could just as well be applied, for localhost-to-localhost interprocess communications.)

Some Rudiments for Same-Host IPC

In POSIX-style systems, for same-host IPC, there may be made:

• Operations upon sockets, such that would be supported, for and within probably all contemporary Common LISP implementations. (Note: SLIME's Swank code appears to use inet sockets. AF_UNIX sockets are another possibility -- namely, where the socket is regarded as like a file, without any concern about network addressing)
• Data-sharing, among processes, via pipes (i.e. like traditional UNIX-style FIFOs).
• Operations, upon special character and block devices. (Such is probably not common, for IPC, but it may be feasible, if one would need to talk to a separate process over a special device, or just to a special device.)
• Operations upon a streams — like via a stream opened upon a pipe, a socket, or an ordinary, static file

IPC Via Shared Memory

There is a general body of theory and practice, within the domains of the computational sciences, particularly regarding shared-memory operations -- the sharing of information, via a region of shared memory. Such operations might be regarded, as their being something like IPC, given that a shared-memory operation may result in the sharing of information among processes.

XFree86/X.Org includes some support for shared memory operations, as with the X Shared Memory extension (XShm).

RPC

RPC is, essentially, Networked IPC.

RPC protocols are designed, primarily, for communication over networks. An RPC protocol may be used, however, for localhost-to-localhost communication, given enough support for it (e.g.: SOAP requires an HTTP sever, at one end; the server would, of course, have to be operating upon something by which it would obtain data to provide to SOAP clients. CORBA and ILU do not require such a stand-alone server architecture, at any end, for their operation).

RPC (Network-able IPC) Applications in Common LISP

• XML-RPC and S-XML-RPC - XML-RPC, RPC over HTTP with XML
• CL-XML - Reported to include support for SOAP, in an extension of CL-XML. (SOAP: Also a manner of RPC with XML over HTTP, but made according to the W3C's SOAP protocol)
• CLORB - CORBA support (CORBA 2 compliant)
• ILU - "PARC's ILU"; supports ILU's own IPC protocol, with source code available for the said, in various languages -- Common LISP included; supports some of CORBA
• There are more IPC/RPC protocols than those that are named, above. Certainly, other projects can be indexed, here, as they would be available and known as related.

This page is linked from: ILU  

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