Please keep helping us to make the future Java EE 6 be well suited to your needs! Rajiv has a new writeup on Servlet 3.0 Plugability; check it out and post comments, positive and negative.

Also check out all previous entries on Java EE 6 and Rajiv's Previous Servlet 3.0 Note.

The release of the EJB 3.1 EDR Spec early last month generated good feedback but there is nothing like an implementation to help understand the spec so... Mahesh and the implementation team have just pushed out an EA of EJB3.1 that installs as a container in the newly available GFv3 TP2. Check out the Features Available and How to Install it. Also see Ken's intro to the plugin.

Check it out and please give us feedback. Enjoy!

JavaOne is always a forcing function for announcements, releases, deals, etc. Some happen during the week, some the weeks before - makes it a bit hard to keep up, but now that CommunityOne is over, I'll try to start catching up...

New Previews of JavaEE 6 Specifications: • Rajiv announces the latest Servlet 3.0 Draft Spec • Linda announces the latest JPA 2.0 Draft Spec

Go check them out and provide feedback; it's the only way to ensre that the future specifications will satisfy your needs.

Last month Roberto asked for Feedback on Java EE 6 Profiles. He sure got feedback: 19 comments! in his poll, 700 votes on the Java.Net Poll and threads at TSS and at InfoQ. Roberto now has written a follow-up on Extensibility and Modularity. He defines the terms (Extensibity is when technologies are added by the App writer, Modularity when its done by the Container), how they are standarized in JavaEE 6 (like Servet 3.0 extensibility and profiles) and how they will apply in the case of a modular server like GlassFish v3.

Very pleased to see more public discussion on specifications targeted to Java EE 6. Check Related Entries at TA and elsewhere (like Roberto's JavaPolis talk), and stay tuned for more.

GlassFish v1 and v2 use TopLink Essentials as its JPA (1.0) provider. TLE's bigger brother is EclipseLink (see Announcement), also led by Oracle but now including pretty much all of its TopLink product. EL is a natural fit for GlassFish v3 and today we (Oracle, Eclipse and Sun) announced just that: EL will be used in GFv3 and it will be the RI for JPA 2.0 . Oracle has been doing a great job leading EL and there already is plenty of material available, including the Users Guide, and the Code Repository. EL will be available under dual license, the traditional EPL and the BSD-based EDL License (see license.html@Trunk).

Our immediate focus will be on GFv3 - expect a build of EL with the latest GFv3 Milestone before the end of the week, but EL should work with GFv2 equally well and there is some interest already (see EL@GFv2 Thread); contact me if you were interested in that bundle.

The Early Draft Review (EDR) version of EJB 3.1 was released a couple of weeks ago (Spec, TA note) and now Ken, the spec lead, has started blogging:

• Ken's Introduction to the EJB 3.1 EDR • Simplified EJB Component Packaging • Optional Local Business Interfaces • EJB 3.1 Presentation at JavaPolis (with video and slides)

I'm very happy to see Ken writing a blog. EJB 3.0 was a big improvement and EJB 3.1.lite (see Java EE 6 Profiles) will help further but adoption also requires presenting the technology in a palatable format to its intended audience.

BTW, did you know the simplified EJB 3.0 spec is only 59 pages? But I can only find it at the JCP Site (although see Ken's Quizz!). Does a Spec exist if people don't know about it? :-)

Ken and the rest of the EJB 3.1 Expert group (JSR 318) has made available an Early Draft for review. The documentation includes the API files and the Specification. We don't yet have a companion early access implementation. As mentioned in Roberto's note on profiles the EG is considering the notion of EJB 3.1 lite, which I think would be very useful.

Check the specs and give feedback to the EG through the comments alias. I'm also encouraging Ken to start a blog and join the Blogosphere.

JavaEE 6 will define profiles: collections of specifications that target specific markets / use cases. And, as part of that process, the EG will also define a Web profile. Some specifications are clearly in in the Web profile, like Servlet 3.0, and some clearly(?) out, like JAX-RPC 1.1, but where to draw the line is always tricky. The more information on use cases, the better, so Roberto is Soliciting Feedback.

Check Roberto note and him feedback. The plan is to use the modularity of GF v3 to implement profiles and that will give you an implementation to try things out.

Added - Also see the Java.Net Poll.

While Java EE 6 is more than a year away, the work is well on its way (see this previous post), the expert group has formed (JSR 316) and spec leads Roberto and Bill wereinterviewed by Artima. The three clear themes (if you haven't already heard) are extensibility, profiles, and pruning. The exact list of JSRs is not set but there's a nice mention of JSR 299 (WebBeans). Beyond all the work going on in GlassFish v3 around modularity, and the community-contributed requirements, this is also the version to track as it will be the reference implementation (RI) for Java EE 6. Whenever Java EE 6 ships, GlassFish v3 ships (and vice-versa ;).

Java EE 6 is moving forward and Roberto has provided a first update on the work of Expert Group in his blog. Topics covered so far include: Application Client Class Loading (clarified), Pruning Process (copied from JavaSE), Content Repository API (not included in JavaEE 6), JBI (not included in JavaEE 6). Ongoing topics include Best Practices for Distribution of Web Apps and Web Profile.

Check Roberto's Writeup for full details and for how to join the JSR 316 Expert Group as an observer. You may want to also track GlassFish v3 as that will be the delivery vehicle for the JavaEE 6 Reference Implementation (see What's an RI).

After a short false start, we now have a new JSR for Java EE 6 in place (JSR 316). The two main points in the proposal are extensibility (more extensibility points and more SPIs) and profiles (one such profile being the Java EE platform itself). Java EE 6 should have its set of updates (Servlet 3.0, EJB 3.1, JPA 2.0, JSF 2.0, JAX-WS...) and new JSRs (Web Beans, JAX-RS, Work Manager and Timer) most of which were covered at JavaOne. Pruning is also mentioned as a way to replace or even remove features (JAX-WS replacing JAX-RPC in some future release is one example). Finally, on the SOA front, SCA will be considered to be integrated in the specification.

The JSR roadmap is pretty aggressive with a final version by the end of 2008. GlassFish v3, now in preview, will be closely following and implementing the work of the expert group. Clearly it already sounds like a good fit for both the profiles and extensibility parts of the proposal (see Jérome's v3 presentation).

Among the reactions, you can read Rod "Spring" Johnson's enthusiasm here. Added: Also check InfoQ's Report.

I had plan to follow up the JavaEE 6 Announcement with news of its approval but instead I have to report that we decided to withdraw JSR 313 because it became clear that many members in the EC needed more time to understand its implications. The plan is to resubmit as soon as possible; I don't know when that will be, but I'll report when it happens. I'll cross my fingers, I like the proposal that Bill and Roberto put together.

Sun has sumited JSR 313 , Java EE 6. The main themes for this proposed release are extensibility and profiles. More details in the submission document. The submission lists these supporters : ASF, BEA Capgemini, Charlton Barreto, Hani, JBoss (RH), Kingdee, Oracle, Pramati, Sybase and TmaxSoft. Leads would be Roberto and Bill.

The code for the RIs for all Sun-led components will be developed at GlassFish, but we have not decided how this maps into the existing v2 and v3 or future releases. The vote now runs for 2 weeks and we will report back then.