Mythbusting Remote Procedure Calls

Explore the myths and realities of Remote Procedure Calls (RPC) in distributed systems through this comprehensive conference talk. Delve into the origins and evolution of RPC, examining its alleged benefits and limitations in networked applications. Learn about early networked systems, the beginnings of RPC, and the inherent difficulties in distributed computing. Understand the procedure call model and its implications, as well as the caveats outlined in RFC 707. Investigate industrial distributed systems, the transition from research to practice, and the emergence of distributed objects and CORBA. Analyze the fallacies of distributed computing, explore distributed Java and web services, and compare local and remote operations. Examine blocking calls, communication patterns, and coupling problems in distributed systems. Discover the speaker's favorite approach using Erlang and gain insights into scaling distributed systems. Conclude with a summary of key takeaways for developing robust and efficient distributed applications.

Introduction
Remote Procedure Call
Early Networked Systems
Beginnings of RPC
Distributed Systems Difficulties
Procedure Call Model
RFC 707 Caveats
Industrial Distributed Systems
Research Into Practice
Distributed Objects
CORBA
A Note on Distributed Computing
Fallacies of Distributed Computing
Distributed Java
Web Services
Local vs. Remote
Blocking Calls
Communication Patterns
Coupling Problems
My Favorite: Erlang
Scaling Systems
Summary