Paragraph about LaTeX equation editor
The Manufacturing Domain Task Force Mission:
If Equation editor we substitute (for example) OpenMath for CORBA and OMG, and mathematics for manufacturing, we have a similar story.
A currently non-CORBA approach to the same problem which is based on Java , is RMI or Remote Method Invocation, which provides a plethora of facilities intended to make Java-encoded data (presumably including programs) usable and transportable between platforms. Conveying structured data described as elements of a class is intended to be entirely transparent between the sender and the recipient. If that data consists of ``math'' objects, then maybe we have some software technology waiting for our use. This assumes that we all agree on the form of such an object (and that kind of standardization is most of what we are concerned with Scientific software above). RMI also assume we are either using Java or adopting a solution that is Java compatible. Furthermore, it makes the reasonable assumption that we are dealing with objects that can be serialized. This means that they can be written out as a serial byte stream which can be read back into another virtual machine running Java as instructions to create the "same" object. (Common Lisp does this free with its print/read programs, for example). If we do not agree on an object description, translating among variants would be needed. If we want to search for translation software, we might find the software vendors who providing component exchange technology such as Lotus's InfoBus . This kind of technology -- embedding the translation process between the front and back ends of programs -- seems particularly unappealing compared to abiding by a standard. Nevertheless, in the absence of agreement, this approach of translatation is another position of cooperation among diverse programs.
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Scientific software
LaTeX equation