OVERVIEW

Introduction | Application Model | Setting the Standard

Setting the Standard for Enterprise Applications

Sun Microsystems set a new standard for client-side computing with the Java^TM 2 Platform, Standard Edition. That experience, plus input from enterprise software vendors and developers, has led to a full support program for the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition standard, including four specific deliverables: - The Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition specification - A complete J2EE reference implementation - The J2EE Sun BluePrint^TM - A Compatibility Test Suite to validate the J2EE brand.

Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition Specification

Subjected to close scrutiny and feedback from a variety of enterprise technology leaders and the industry at large, the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition Specification defines a consistent yet flexible approach to implementing the platform. The J2EE specification enumerates the APIs to be provided with all J2EE platforms and includes full descriptions of the support levels expected for containers, clients, and components. It defines a flexible standard that can be built on either a single system or deployed across several servers, each providing a specific set of J2EE support services. This means a wide range of existing enterprise systems already in use throughout industry will be able to support the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition.

J2EE Reference Implementation

Key to validating the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition, the J2EE Reference Implementation provides all the specified technologies, plus a range of sample applications, tools, and documentation. This lightweight implementation of the J2EE standard is provided for two purposes. First, it provides system vendors with a standard by which to compare their own implementations. Second, it provides application developers with a way to familiarize themselves with J2EE technology as they explore commercial products for full-scale deployment of J2EE applications.

J2EE Compatibility Test Suite

By providing a means to fully test implementations of the platform standard, the Compatibility Test Suite ensures consistent implementation across various vendor offerings. For application developers, this means full portability for enterprise applications. The suite includes tests for all classes and methods required by the J2EE specification. It also includes end-to-end tests to check that all layers of a J2EE application will interact correctly and consistently.

Sun BluePrints^TM Design Guidelines for J2EE

Provided as both documentation and complete examples, the Sun BluePrints Design Guidelines for J2EE will describe and illustrate "best practices" for developing and deploying component based enterprise applications in J2EE. Topics explored will include component design and optimization, division of development labor, and allocation of technology resources.

Sun Professional Services for J2EE developers

In addition to the J2EE deliverables, Sun offers a range of services to help enterprises adopt the J2EE standard. The J2EE Boot Camp gives your team experience implementing a distributed application with J2EE technology. The J2EE Readiness Assessment evaluates your current Java applications and provides a roadmap for migration to the J2EE standard. The J2EE Inception Service starts with your requirements to develop a plan to help initiate the J2EE application design process. And the J2EE Application Design and Deployment Service lets your team work directly with Sun architects to undertake J2EE application development.

The Enterprise Standard with a Future

While J2EE 1.0 defines a powerful new model for implementing enterprise applications, the world of enterprise computing continues to evolve. And Sun Microsystems is already planning to evolve J2EE to keep pace, with full Java Message Service API support, additional integration of XML, the ability to interact with business objects developed in COM, and a standard API for building J2EE services on an expanding variety of existing information systems.

J2EE Standard Enterprise Services In addition to providing support for Enterprise JavaBeansTM, Java Servlets and JavaServer PagesTM components, the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition specification defines a number of standard services for use by J2EE components. Java Naming and Directory InterfaceTM API Designed to standardize access to a variety of naming and directory services, the Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI) API provides a simple mechanism for J2EE components to look up other objects they require. JDBCTM API JDBC API enables applications to manipulate existing data from relational databases and other data repositories. J2EE includes the latest implementation of JDBC API -- version 2.0. This new technology includes handling of SQL User-Defined Types (UDTs), rowset manipulation, connection pooling, and distributed transactions support. JavaMailTM API J2EE includes JavaMail to support applications such as e-commerce websites. The JavaMail API provides the ability to send order confirmations and other user feedback. CORBA Compliance J2EE supports two CORBA-compliant technologies: JavaIDL and RMI-IIOP. JavaIDL enables Java applications to interact with any CORBA-compliant enterprise system. RMI- IIOP technology combines the programming ease of the Java Remote Method Invocation API (RMI) with CORBA's Internet Inter-ORB Protocol (IIOP) for easier integration of J2EE applications with legacy applications. Java Transaction API While J2EE provides transaction support automatically, the Java Transaction API (JTA) provides a way for J2EE components and clients to manage their own transactions and for multiple components to participate in a single transaction. XML Deployment Descriptors J2EE defines a set of descriptors in the universal data language, XML. With its ability to support both standard and custom data types, XML makes it easier to implement customizable components and to develop custom tools. Java Message Service The Java Message Service (JMS) API defines a standard mechanism for components to send and receive messages asynchronously, for fault-tolerant interaction. JMS is optional for J2EE release 1.0.

Introduction | Application Model | Setting the Standard

[ This page was updated: 03-Dec-99 ]