Book excerpt: The latest release of CORBA boasts many new features that were highly anticipated by developers, including all of the necessary services for building fully distributed applications regardless of platform or programming language. Written by a leading international authority on CORBA and the bestselling author of CORBA 3 Fundamentals and Programming, Second Edition (0-471-29518-3), this book delivers on its title, providing a quick and easy-to-understand reference to CORBA 3 for developers who just need the basics to the upgrade--and don't have the time to read a huge reference guide. After reviewing the features grouped under the CORBA 3 banner, Siegel goes on to describe the integration of CORBA with Java and the Internet, mapping XML to OMG IDL, messaging, QoS control including specializations for Real-Time and embedded systems, and the CORBA Component Model (CCM).