What is new in Java EE 5?

Java EE is the industry standard for developing portable, robust, scalable and secure server-side Java applications. Java Platform, Enterprise Edition Java EE 5--latest version of this framework has been launched by Sun Microsystems, recently.

Did you notice that this version is being called JEE instead of J2EE? The numeral '2' has been removed from the name of the framework, by Sun to make it simpler. According to Sun, "formerly, the platform was known as Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE), and specific versions had "dot numbers" such as J2EE 1.4. The "2" is dropped from the name, as well as the dot number. So the next version of the Java platform for the enterprise is Java Platform, Enterprise Edition 5 (Java EE 5)."

So what is new with this version? How would it make life for a developer better? Java EE specification lead Bill Shannon, a distinguished engineer at Sun Microsystems says to watch out for the following in his roundup on new features.

Do away with deployment descriptors...

This version of Java allows trashing deployment descriptors in most of the cases. In the previous versions to create a web service the programmer had to write Java code for the web service API, a Java class that would implement the web service, a deployment descriptor for the container, and a configuration file for mapping details. Life is made much simpler now, and programmers have to just write the Java class that implements the web service-the rest is taken care of by the container itself based on the annotations and default rules included in the source code.

Earlier, even simple tasks like combining modules into an 'ear' file required writing of a deployment descriptor to provide details of the modules; all this can be done away with and modules can be simply put in the respective 'ear' file and the rest is taken care of by the framework itself.

Simplified programming model

Java EE 5 offers a simplified programming model. Use of annotations within the code makes it simpler for the developers to deal with persistence, web services, transactions, security and other features of Java EE 5. While the earlier programming model made extensive use of deployment descriptors, in Java EE 5 annotations can be put directly into the code for tasks like exposing a class as web service or starting a transaction when a method is called.

JSF an integral part of Java EE 5.0

Building attractive user interfaces has always been a major focus area for web developers. There is a range of off-the-shelf, third party components available as well as couple of open-source tools that the developers can choose from. The Java Server Faces (JSF) technology- a Java Community Process (JCP) standard has been adopted broadly by vendors like IBM, Oracle, BEA, JBoss, and Borland.

JSF's component model approach makes it easy for developers to develop user-interfaces with high level of abstraction. JSF being a part of the Java EE 5 framework integrates well with Java Persistence and EJB 3.0.

Support for latest Web services API

Java EE 5 offers support for the latest Web services API--Java API for XML Web Services (JAX-WS) and Java API for XML Binding (JAXB) APIs, and the web services metadata support defined by JSR 181.

JAX-WS is based on Java API for XML-based Remote Procedure Calls (JAX-RPC), but provides better support for latest web service standards and programming styles.

JAXB is used to map Java classes to XML data and is used by JAX-WS to encode and decode data that is sent in web services calls. JAXB 2.0 is an improved version of JAXB 1.0, and offers fill support W3C XML schemas.

Saves on time

Time required for developing an application--for a small process or a large-scale enterprise class application can be shortened to a very large extent by using this version. While for simple applications, developers can achieve same results by writing much less code; for the large business applications, where majority of the code is the business logic and hence cannot be compromised upon, reduction in number of concepts makes life simpler for the developer leaving him with enough time to improvise upon the business logic.

The PE application server

Java EE 5 SDK comes with a Java System Application Server, Platform Edition 9.0 -- Sun's product version of the GlassFish code that serves as the reference implementation for Java EE 5. The PE application server can be used for development as well as small-scale deployment.

In the pipeline is an enterprise edition of application server with advanced features to support enterprise scale development and deployment.

Developers wanting to know more about Java EE 5, and wishing to contribute in its development must visit the Java EE Hub page. The Java EE 5 SDK can be a downloaded for free from the hub page.