Sun Microsystems gave server-based Java development a boost earlier week by releasing a new version of its J2EE spec.
Java 2 Enterprise Edition 1.3, which will support the development of more complex business applications, includes a new reference implementation, available in binary form, as well as a test kit that is the basis for Sun"s J2EE Compatibility Test Suite. Tool and application server vendors must be certified as J2EE-compliant.
Although many e-businesses have started to build and run J2EE-based applications in the past year, the new spec will support more sophisticated apps, said Giga Information Group analyst Randy Heffner.
J2EE 1.3 includes new prebuilt connectors for integrating Java app servers with popular ERP and customer service and sales management platforms. It also adds support for so-called message-driven beans, which brings a component model to inter-application messaging--key to building transaction-processing apps. It also supports Enterprise Java Beans 2.0, which includes new container-managed persistence that simplifies the development of distributed apps. And finally, it offers improved support for XML integration, Java Server Pages and Servlets.
In a related move this week, Microsoft said it plans to add Java Database Connectivity drivers and support for them to its SQL Server 2000 database.