tags:

views:

103

answers:

4

Or are they synonyms?

+2  A: 

An RPC (remote procedure call) is a form of IPC (interprocess communication) - the latter is a more general term, covering lots of mechanisms besides RPCs.

anon
+1  A: 
  • Remote Procedure Call (calling methods remotely at a system)
  • Interprocess Communication (method enabling processes in the same system to interact).
Aggelos Mpimpoudis
+2  A: 

RPC - Remote Procedure Call - is a particular type of communication, but can be on a single machine, or across a network between machines. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_procedure_call

IPC - Inter-Process Communication - is a general term for communication between different processes (which are usually on a single machine). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter-process_communication

Douglas Leeder
+4  A: 

Wikipedia is usually great for these purposes.

RPC:

Remote procedure call (RPC) is an Inter-process communication technology that allows a computer program to cause a subroutine or procedure to execute in another address space (commonly on another computer on a shared network) without the programmer explicitly coding the details for this remote interaction.

IPC:

Inter-process communication (IPC) is a set of techniques for the exchange of data among multiple threads in one or more processes. Processes may be running on one or more computers connected by a network.

So, RPC is just one kind of IPC.

Eli Bendersky
Thanks for your answer. I did check Wikipedia, but I'm not sure whether it is the definite reference for this kind of loosely defined computer science jargon.
Dimitri C.
@Dimitri: it's a pretty definite reference, as far as I know. At least, I use it as such
Eli Bendersky

related questions