Enterprise Java and Rational Rose - Part II - The Future of J2EE and Rational Rose
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The J2EE platform is evolving rapidly to meet the demands of current users and vendors. A new J2EE 1.3 specification is now in development via the Java Community Process, and drafts are already available. This new version includes revisions and refinements for many of the technologies and features we have discussed, introducing greater consistency and tighter integration throughout the platform.
The new specification also introduces connector architecture. A weakness of the J2EE 1.2 specification is that it doesn't provide an easy way for enterprise applications to access heterogeneous enterprise information systems. The new connector architecture provides seamless access with a "plug-in" mechanism for both ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and TP (Mainframe Transaction Processing) systems.
It's almost like an extension of JDBC, which provides access to relational databases: The new architecture goes a step further by providing a common interface to any enterprise information system.
Another big step forward in the J2EE 1.3 specification is an API for XML. In today's fast-paced, highly competitive business environment, an organization cannot afford any kind of weak link. The more effectively a company is able to collaborate and integrate with its business partners, the more successful the business will likely be. Because XML is a standard that has been widely adopted to describe data, the new J2EE specification Java API for XML Parsing (JAXP) will greatly facilitate collaboration and integration among business partners.
As a future direction, J2EE v1.3 points to the XML data binding specification, which is a way to realize XML schemas by Java classes. Although it's still under development, this specification previews the important role that XML will play in the future specification of the Java 2 platform, Enterprise Edition.
Given J2EE's responsiveness to user demands, its popularity as a development platform -- which is already growing rapidly -- is likely to accelerate in the future. Although the learning curve for J2EE is steep, developers will find that Rational Rose can ease the transition to this platform by automating and simplifying many aspects of the development process. Visit the Rose Upgrades page at http://www.rational.com for free Rational Rose Evaluation software.
Originally written by Khawar Ahmed and Loïc Julien
Copyright (c) 2000-2003 IBM Corporation. All rights reserved.
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