Java Enterprise Edition 6

I read an article on the good things coming in Java EE version 6. There is a new API for REST. There is a web profile, meaning you can use a scaled down version of the previously bloated enterprise edition. In the tools department, there is a new version of NetBeans being released.

Enterprise Java Beans has been updated. Things have gotten much simpler with it. The beans are "light". Complexities such as requirements for frameworks are gone. This is in line with the scaled down profile version of the Java EE.

Right now I am still concentrating on learning Java Standard Edition. Some Java friends keep asking me whether I am up to speed on Java EE. It might be time to start learning it. Looks like I will have access to a new updated version, which is actually simpler than previous ones.

J2EE Version 6

Sun Microsystems is coming out with the next edition of the Java 2 Enterprise Edition. I read a lengthy article about the new features in this framework. Here are some of the goodies that Sun says is in J2EE 6.

There are profiles which support a subset of the J2EE standard, allowing for lean deployments. Next is the idea of extensibility. Basically they are providing a way to include plugins into the system.

There is a JAX-RS API which helps you develop RESTful web services. There is also bean validation. This is a standard mechanism to perform data validation before saving to a database.

Asynchronous processing of beans is built in now. J2EE will also now support AJAX. There is a scaled down Enterprise Java Beans release called EJB lite.

Another technology is JPA, which stands for Java Persistence API. Finally there is a Criteria API which is a way to query objects. I myself do not have any experience with J2EE. However the Java dudes consider it essential. So you know I will be learning the basics soon.

Java Platform Bloat

I keep my eyes peeled for any software articles about Java. Recently I read a front page article about Java Enterprise Edition 6 being very bloated. A solution is to wait for the Java Standard Edition 7 to come out. However I get the feeling that Java SE 7 is somehow delayed for a long time.

In the mean time, there is a feature of Java EE 6 called profiles. It allows you to work with a smaller subset of the huge Java EE 6 platform. Unfortunately there is only one profile available. It is the Web Profile bundle. That seems like a useful one. But it would be good if there were a number of profiles readily available.

Luckily the Java Development Kit 7 is supposed to include a feature called modules. It too will allow you to work with a smaller subset of the platform. Right now I only deal with the Java 6 SE. That alone seems large when I query the Java API. I cringe at the thought of working with Java EE 6, which is supposed to be a beast.