J2EE 1.4 Beta Arrives: Web Services Ready

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How long will it be before you can write and use enterprise-class Web services applications on a mature, industry-standard platform? How about today?

With the release of J2EE 1.4 Beta, you now have a powerful, feature-rich, simplified platform for building, deploying, and managing Web services. And it's available for download right now. J2EE 1.4 Beta technologies allow you to truly integrate the application server into the IT infrastructure and deliver the latest functionality in Web services.

Everything You Need

The J2EE 1.4 Beta download gives you enhanced Web services support through the new Java API for XML-Based RPC (JAX-RPC) 1.0. As a critical technology for Web services integration, JAX-RPC 1.0 delivers Web services interoperability based on the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) 1.1 specification and Web Services Description Language (WSDL) documents. JAX-RPC defines service endpoints for Servlet and Enterprise JavaBeans-based Web services, and provides support for SOAP message attachments. The Java API for XML Registries (JAXR) is your way to access multiple XML registries, such as Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) and ebXML Registry/Repository through a single Java interface. All are included in one easy download.

J2EE 1.4 Beta also unveils the J2EE Deployment 1.1 API, which standardizes the deployment of J2EE applications. Through this API, deployment descriptors are now defined using XML Schema, providing a uniform method to deploy applications onto application servers via a wide range of tools. "This is a standard way for third-party Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) to package and deploy applications to servers," says Mark Hapner, Sun Distinguished Engineer and J2EE Lead Architect. "Until now, there was a standard for packaging applications, but the mechanism for deployment was proprietary."

With J2EE 1.4 Beta, you'll have the Web services for J2EE specification (JSR 109), which defines deployment requirements for Web services and leverages the JAX-RPC programming model. You'll also have the new J2EE Management 1.0 API, which defines the information model for J2EE management, including standard Management Enterprise JavaBeans (MEJB).

According to George Grigoryev, J2EE Senior Product Manager, "There is also an SPI -- Java Authorization Contract for Containers (JACC) -- that provides an authorization standard for containers, thus allowing developers to integrate external authorization infrastructures."

While application developers don't typically deal with management and deployment, these new APIs are resources for application assemblers, deployers, and systems administrators. "This is a new category of technologies for the platform that haven't been addressed before," says Grigoryev. Hapner agrees. "In essence, starting with J2EE 1.4 Beta, we're beginning to standardize the interaction, impact, and management of the application server within the larger IT infrastructure through standardized APIs."

Smarter, Web-services-ready Enterprise JavaBeans

Until now, Enterprise JavaBeans and Web services have been a perfectly matched couple -- who just haven't met yet. But now, thanks to JAX-RPC, EJB 2.1 delivers integrated JAX-RPC support for Web services development and deployment. This new functionality enables developers to write EJBs that implement Web service endpoints and invoke Web services using the JAX-RPC facility directly from within EJB 2.1.

Of course, the EJB product team couldn't resist making additional enhancements to the EJB query language, but beyond JAX-RPC support, the big news for EJB 2.1 is its new container-managed Timer Service. The new embedded timer allows developers to write components that can be awakened at any particular time, or periodically, by the container itself.

That means EJBs can now wake themselves up and launch a business process or monitor the status of activities at preset intervals. Hapner explains, "For example, you can write an EJB for a business task that can invoke itself and check to see if a given task has occurred. If not, it can synchronize or activate the task, or send out notifications via Java Message Service (JMS) or JavaMail, to prompt whoever is responsible. Or an EJB can wake up once a day and ship updates to a Web service endpoint." The timers are transactional also, so if the activity doesn't complete itself -- say, due to a lapse in service -- the container can reassert the timer's function to complete the activity. "This makes EJBs a much more intelligent Web service component for business-level processes," says Hapner.

Simplified JavaServer Pages

JavaServer Pages technology has been an extremely popular tool for developers, and JSP 2.0 delivers new features that make it even easier to use. In fact, "ease of use" was the objective driving release 2.0 , and it's all part of J2EE 1.4 Beta.

The JavaServer Pages Standard Tag Library (JSTL) is a powerful technology for encapsulating the core functionality common to many JSP applications, in a simple, standard, reusable tag. This technology can be leveraged for tasks such as iteration and conditionals, manipulating XML documents, internationalization and locale-sensitive formatting, and SQL tags -- all accessible to even novice developers without the need to write complex code.

With release 2.0, JSP has gained the Simple Expression Language, which makes it more effective as a scripting facility. Simple Expression Language lets developers script logical expressions directly into JSP, rather than writing them in the Java language.

JSP Fragments is a new component facility that also makes JSP easier to use. It lets developers parameterize and reuse fragments of JSP pages, thereby reducing development complexity.

Don't Forget Servlets

Servlets have been improved with the addition of the Request Listener interface and an update of filters, among other enhancements. "The filters simply enhance the existing Servlet component model," says Hapner. "You can write your basic business functionality as a Servlet, and customize it for reuse by applying input and output filters."

Connector Architecture Update: Make It Bidirectional

The J2EE Connector Architecture, which provides broad pluggability from Enterprise Information Systems (EIS) to the Java platform through common resource adapters, has also received a significant enhancement. Connector 1.5 adds bidirectional integration of external systems. In the initial version, only outgoing requests were supported.

Up to Date, Up to Speed, Up to the Job

Now is your opportunity to download J2EE 1.4 Beta and begin your evaluation before the final release planned for Summer 2003. We'd like to hear what you think and incorporate your invaluable feedback. With the continued support of the Java community, J2EE 1.4 is delivering the next evolution in IT computing: secure and robust Web services made easier to develop, deploy, and manage across the enterprise and across the network.

See Also

The Java Web Services Developer Pack establishes a roadmap to standards-based J2EE Web Services.