Tony Ng's Blog

We have just released Java EE 5 SDK Preview and Sun Java System Application Server 9 PE Beta! It also comes with IDE support via the NetBeans Enterprise Pack 5.5 Preview.

For those of you who have been following GlassFish, you might be wondering what is the relationship between the SDK, Sun App Server PE, RI and GlassFish. Let me summarize the differences here.

• GlassFish is an open source community with the goal of building a Java EE 5 based application server and related technologies.
• Sun App Server 9 PE is a free, certified, deployable and supported application server product. It is based on the source code from GlassFish.
• Java EE 5 SDK includes the same Sun App Server 9 PE, as well as J2SE 5.0, samples and Java EE 5 API documentation. It saves you from downloading the other pieces separately. One analogy I like to draw is Java Development Kit (JDK) vs. Java Runtime Environment (JRE).
• Java EE 5 RI is a deliverable mostly for our Java EE 5 licensees. It is also based on the source code from GlassFish.

As you can see, GlassFish, PE and RI are all derived from the same code base and pretty much provide the same features and functionality. So which one should you use? I have created a table to help you decide.

	Sun App Server PE	GlassFish	Java EE RI
Target Audience	Business, developers and users who need a stable, certified and supported application server	Developers who want early access to the latest builds in application server technology	Java EE licensees
Release Frequency	Approximately 12-18 months for FCS release. More frequent Beta and Update releases available.	Continuous nightly builds and weekly promoted builds	Coincide with Java EE Platform revision
Certification	Certified on many platforms, databases and tools	None. Community support only	Certified on many platforms, databases and tools
Support	Product support can be purchased. Community support via forums.	Community support only	Licensee support available
Training	Product training available	Not available currently	Licensee events available
Maintenance and Updates	Patches and updates available	Fixes may be available in newer builds	Patches and updates available
Price	Free download	Free download	To become a licensee, contact Sun