Enterprise JavaBeans
<specification, business, programming> (EJB) A
server-side
component architecture for writing reusable business logic and
portable enterprise applications.
EJB is the basis of
Sun's
Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE).
Enterprise JavaBean components are written entirely in
Java and run on any EJB compliant server.
They are
operating system,
platform, and
middleware independent, preventing vendor
lock-in.
EJB servers provide system-level services (the "plumbing") such as transactions, security,
threading, and
persistence.
The EJB architecture is inherently transactional, distributed, multi-tier, scalable, secure, and wire protocol neutral - any
protocol can be used:
IIOP,
JRMP,
HTTP,
DCOM etc.
EJB 1.1 requires
RMI for communication with components.
EJB 2.0 is expected to require support for RMI/IIOP.
EJB applications can serve assorted clients: browsers, Java,
ActiveX,
CORBA etc.
EJB can be used to wrap legacy systems.
EJB 1.1 was released in December 1999.
EJB 2.0 is in development.
Sun claims broad industry adoption.
30 vendors are shipping server products implementing EJB.
Supporting vendors include
IBM,
Fujitsu, Sybase, Borland, Oracle, and
Symantec.
An alternative is Microsoft's MTS (Microsoft Transaction Server).
Home (http://java.sun.com/products/ejb/).
FAQ (http://java.sun.com/products/ejb/faq.html).
