IDL[3]

Interface Definition Language

Open Software Foundation, 1984

OSF (now known as the Open Group) originated the idea of a language-neutral Interface Definition Language to facilitate RPC's (Remote Procedure Calls) within their heterogeneous Distributed Computing Environment (DCE). IDL provides a registered definition for each procedure to be called.

OSF IDL

The original IDL as formulated by OSF.

OMG IDL

Object Management Group, 1989

OMG generalized the IDL concept to an interface for objects within the framework of CORBA. OMG IDL provides object communication between components which may be written in different languages.