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Web services to be talk of JavaOne conference

IDG.net

By John Cox

San Francisco (IDG) -- This week's annual JavaOne conference will focus a lot of attention on so-called "Web services" and formal releases of code for a raft of new Java APIs.

Sun has spent the past year beating the drums about Web services and in February launched the Sun Open Network Environment (ONE), a counter to Microsoft's .Net Web services scheme. Sun ONE includes a set of server software from Sun partner iPlanet and relies on standards such as XML and the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) to build and run Web-based applications that can be activated by other software components.

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Conference attendees can choose from among 40 formal and informal sessions dealing with building software that can be accessed by clients using key Web services protocols. These include sessions comparing Sun ONE vs. .Net and others teaching how to use Java server pages to set up Web services.

So far, there is no Java standard for Web services. A formal Java Specification Request, JSR 109, for "Implementing Enterprise Web Services" was only approved in April. This project will outline a programming model, that is, Java classes and APIs for writing code on clients and servers, and a description of how to deploy a Web service atop the Java2 Enterprise Edition specification. The expert group guiding this project plans to have a draft document for review by the Java community in August.

Sun executives say the beta-test version release last week of Java2 Standard Edition (J2SE) 1.4, essentially aimed at desktop operating systems, is a key step toward Web services.

The new version incorporates support for XML, which is essential to any concept of Web services. Also new is an updated set of Java Foundation Classes for client graphical user interface tasks, faster Java two-dimensional graphics and improved security with the integration of such extensions as Java Cryptography. Final code for J2SE 1.4 will ship by year-end, according to Sun.

Developers face an array of key challenges in building Web services in the short term. These include learning and using XML message formats, creating service databases called registries, and learning to work with non-Java Web services, such as those based on Microsoft .Net.

More Java buzz

A good deal of the other JavaOne activity this week surrounds recent or upcoming Java software implementations, the output of the Java community process.

One new release anticipated by users is the Enterprise Java Beans (EJB) 2.0 specification, which updates the description of creating and using Java software components. One key change is letting EJBs work with the Java Message Service. This will let Java components interact using different types of asynchronous messaging, such as e-mail, HTTP and Java Message Service.

Another change in EJB 2.0 will make it easier to create and relate EJBs to back-end databases, a process called persistence. According to Java users, the new persistence model is stronger, EJBs become more portable, and third-party object-relational mapping tools can be used more easily.

Finally, to improve interoperability among different EJB servers, the release specifies the Common Object Request Broker Architecture Internet Interoperability Protocol as the standard transport protocol to be used by components activating each other over a network.

Later this year, Java2 Enterprise Edition 1.3 will be formally released, incorporating the Java Connector Architecture (JCA), which defines a standard way for Java components on a Java applications server to connect with enterprise applications, whether packaged software -- such as that from PeopleSoft or SAP -- or custom-built programs. JCA will be implemented as new code by the vendors of application servers, middleware and enterprise applications.

Today, connecting with such legacy applications requires lots of time and coding, says Brian Reed, a vice president at Merant, a Rockville, Md., vendor of connectivity software.

As vendors such as Merant roll out JCA-compliant software, customers will be able to write one set of code and call any JCA connector, for example, those for CICS or SAP's R/3. JCA will provide customers with easier interoperability and eliminate much of the need to customize software, he says.

Sun this week also will draw attention to the April announcement of Project Juxtapose (JXTA), which relies on several concepts from Unix programming to create peer-to-peer Java applications, which can interact with each other over a network without needing a central server.

The goal is to create software that can work with any programming language or underlying network platform, such as TCP/IP or Bluetooth.

JXTA makes use of Web standards such as XML, for moving data over a network, and Java, for running peer applications on any operating system.








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