Monadic Remote Invocation

TL;DR

The paper introduces a Remote monad that simplifies remote method invocation in Java RMI, enabling easier access to existing code without extensive modifications, and maintains compatibility with existing RMI infrastructure.

Contribution

It presents a functional adapter and Remote monad that decouple remote invocation from Java RMI's implementation, reducing implementation effort and preserving existing code.

Findings

Enables remote access to existing Java code without modifications

Reduces implementation effort for remote invocation

Maintains compatibility with Java RMI protocol

Abstract

In order to achieve Separation of Concerns in the domain of remote method invocation, a small functional adapter is added atop Java RMI, eliminating the need for every remote object to implement java.rmi.Remote and making it possible to remotely access existing code, unchanged. The Remote monad is introduced, and its implementation and usage are detailed. Reusing the existing, proven technology of RMI allows not to re-invent the underlying network protocol. As a result, orthogonal remote invocation is achieved with little or no implementation effort.