Rama reports that Java SE 6 Update N will not only please people waiting for the "Consumer JRE" but also Web Services developers. The much improved JAX-WS 2.1.1 implementation will also be part of the core JRE set of APIs. This will remove the need for the endorsed mechanism required today in order to use both JAX-WS 2.1 and Java 6.

Here are a couple of things that change with GlassFish v2 which should trigger better out of the box performance: •  GlassFish v2 supports 64-bit and thus can have a VM with terabytes of heap (see Performance Tuning Guide). •  The GlassFish v2 configuration no longer has an explicit -client switch for better startup time in development mode. This means that Ergonomics will kick in to determine which is best, client or server VM. Read more here.

•  GlassFish v2 also supports Java 6. Performance benefits are almost immediate and free (no code change, no recompile or redeploy). The use of JSR 199 by the JSP compiler is one of the benefits. The SPECjAppServer number is another one.

Since Java SE 6 includes JAX-WS 2.0 and JAXB 2.0 the straight-forward way to upgrade to the updated maintenance specifications requires using endorsed standards. But Kohsuke has figure out a way to apply some ClassLoader Magic so that this is not necessary. The result is a transparent experience. ClassLoaders have always been part of the trickiest part of the Java platform; see for example this report from the First JavaOne; I'm looking forward to having a moment to read carefully Kohsuke's description.

Java SE 6 has Web Services support through the JAXB 2.0 and JAX-WS 2.0 specifications. The implementations used are those used in GlassFish v1, but GlassFish v2 implements the latest versions of the specs: JAX-WS 2.1 and JAXB 2.1 and this complicated things. Earlier Bhakti had explained how to use endorsed standards to run GlassFish v2 on JDK 6, but recent builds (starting with b31) do this automatically and she now has an updated description.

The JAXB 2.1 and JAX-WS 2.1 specifications are going through the Maintenance Release process and are in the 30 day review. The official JCP sites are here and here. Doug, Arun and Kohsuke have been talking about the features in recent blogs and mailing lists, including JAXB 2.1 Revisited, Stateful WS, and Why WS Addressing.

Kohsuke also wrote about The Woes of Framemaker and, although there are things I like about FM, I agree with Kohsuke - every time I had to do a pass on the specs I had to be careful of RSI.

Most JSP implementations translate a JSP file into a Java source file and then compile it, which means that Java compilation speed is a key factor in the JSP development experience. Recently Jan reported on how to use the JDT Compiler to get a substantial improvement but Kin-Man now reports even Better Results. Kin-Man updated the JSP GlassFish compiler to dynamically use the JSR-199 APIs when running on Mustang so it can bypass both ant and the file system. The results are very good: JSP compilation is around 10x faster and the JSP test-suite is now running 3.5x times faster!

This is already checked into GlassFish V2 and will be in the next promotion b11, and in the first milestone. And Kin-Man also has further improvements to try out...

James Gosling has been in the thick of the debate over how Java stacks up against some of the emerging server-side software technologies (dynamic scripting languages, LAMP, AJAX). In an interview with zdnet he's pretty frank about the role of Java, Ruby, PHP, LAMP, etc. and the importance of tools for developer productivity. I particularly like (and agree) with what he says about Java EE (J2EE) :

You take things like J2EE (server software), it's become almost sort of the opposite of trendy, in the sense that it's totally mainstreamed, totally proven mission critical. It's very corporate, it has been really seriously battle tested, and for lots of folks it's become a completely safe bed (sic).

For people running businesses - "battle tested", "corporate", "mission critical" are the kind of adjectives you want to hear. That said Java (and Java EE) is still managing to pique the interests of the next generation of developer with innovative new features in the Java language and the Java EE platform - that's a major achievement - balancing the tension of the mainstream and the early adopter.

I'm fairly sure that Java still has a long way to go before it reaches its prime and it's encouraging to see that Java is still entering new markets and finding entirely new applications (Java sets the standard for future cable systems).