Java EE

Transitioning Jakarta EE to the “jakarta” namespace

As described in Jakarta Going Forward, we need to transition the Jakarta EE specifications to the jakarta.* namespace/base package. After long and intense discussions in the Jakarta EE Specification, we have proposed two possible ways forward to kick-start the discussions on this thread.

In this post, I am highlighting some of the content of the initial post to the mailing list for reference.

Proposal 1: Big-bang Jakarta EE 9, Jakarta EE 10 New Features

The heart of this proposal is to do a one-time move of API source from the javax.* namespace to the jakarta.* namespace with the primary goal of not prolonging industry cost and pain associated with the transition.

https://www.eclipse.org/lists/jakartaee-platform-dev/msg00029.html

Proposal 2: Incremental Change in Jakarta EE 9 and beyond

Evolve API source from javax.* to the jakarta.* namespace over time on an as-needed basis. The most active specifications would immediately move in Jakarta EE 9. Every Jakarta EE release, starting with version 10 and beyond may involve some javax.* to jakarta.* namespace transition.

https://www.eclipse.org/lists/jakartaee-platform-dev/msg00029.html

Other Proposals

Other proposals should incorporate the following considerations and goals:

The new namespace will be jakarta.*

APIs moved to the jakarta.* namespace maintain class names and method signatures compatible with equivalent class names and method signatures in the javax.* namespace.

Even a small maintenance change to an API would require a javax.* to jakarta.* change of that entire specification. Examples include:
– Adding a value to an enum
– Overriding/adding a method signature
– Adding default methods in interfaces
– Compensating for Java language changes

Binary compatibility for existing applications in the javax.* namespace is an agreed goal by the majority of existing vendors in the Jakarta EE Working Group and would be a priority in their products. However, there is a strong desire not to deter new implementers of the jakarta.* namespace from entering the ecosystem by requiring they also implement an equivalent javax.* legacy API.

There is no intention to change Jakarta EE 8 goals or timeline.

Community discussion on how to transition to the jakarta.* namespace will conclude Sunday, June 9th, 2019.

https://www.eclipse.org/lists/jakartaee-platform-dev/msg00029.html

Contribute

There are already a lot of contributions and lively discussions going on. Please make sure you join the Jakarta EE Platform Developer Discussions mailing list https://accounts.eclipse.org/mailing-list/jakartaee-platform-dev to take part in the conversation. At the time of writing this post, the number of subscribers to the list has more than doubled! Another proof of the passion and commitment in the Jakarta EE community!

Jakarta Going Forward

The agreement between the Eclipse Foundation and Oracle regarding rights to Java trademarks has been signed! This is truly an important milestone for Jakarta EE since we will now be able to move forward with Jakarta EE.

As outlined in https://eclipse-foundation.blog/jakarta-ee-java-trademarks, there are two major areas of impact on the Jakarta EE projects:

  • Java Trademarks
  • The javax.* Namespace

Java Trademarks

One part of the agreement is regarding the use of Java trademarks. The implications for Jakarta EE is that we have to rename the specifications and the specification projects. This work is ongoing and is tracked in our specification renaming board on GitHub. The EE4J PMC has published the following Naming Standard for Jakarta EE Specifications in order to comply with the trademark agreement.

The javax Namespace

The major topic of the agreement is around the use of the javax namespace. The agreement permits Jakarta EE specifications to use the javax namespace as is only. Changes to the API must be made in another namespace.

While the name changes can be considered cosmetic changes, the restrictions on the use of the javax.* namespace come with some technical challenges. For example, how are we going to preserve backwards compatibility for applications written using the javax.* namespace?

The Jakarta EE Specifications Committee has come up with the following guiding principle for Jakarta EE.next:

Maximize compatibility with Jakarta EE 8 for future versions without stifling innovation.

With the restrictions on the use of the javax.* namespace, it is necessary to transition the Jakarta EE specifications to a new namespace. The Jakarta EE Specification Committee has decided that the new namespace will be jakarta.*.

How and when this transition should happen is now the primary decision for the Jakarta EE community to make. There are several possible ways forward and the forum for these discussions is the Jakarta EE Platform mailing list.

Mailing List: jakartaee-platform-dev@eclipse.org

Please make sure that you subscribe to the mailing list and join in on the discussion. We hope that we will be able to reach some form of consensus within a month that can be presented to the Specification Committee for approval.

An Opportunity

While the restrictions on the use of Java trademarks and the javax.* namespace impose both practical as well as technical challenges, it is also an opportunity to perform some housekeeping.

By renaming the specifications, we can get a uniform, homogeneous naming structure for the specifications that makes more sense and is easier on the tongue than the existing. By having clear and concise names, we may even get rid of the need for abbreviations and acronyms.

The shift from javax.* to jakarta.* opens up for the possibility to differentiate the stable (or legacy) specifications that have played their role from the ones currently being developed.

What’s in a Name?

As Wayne Beaton wrote about in his blog Renaming Java EE Specifications for Jakarta EE, the process of renaming the Java EE specifications as a part of the path towards Jakarta EE 8 has started.

Naming is hard and changing names that we have become attached to is even harder. Most of us also have this inherent feeling that change is bad and should be avoided. At the same time, we live in this ever-changing industry where embracing change is, not only a mantra but also a requirement to survive. Add to this, that some of the names we are talking about in this context are pretty bad. Some of them so long that we have to google the acronym to be able to describe what it actually abbreviates. Some of the acronyms we are using daily aren’t even acronyms, but more of an artificially created letter combination following some sort of standard. A couple of examples:

Jakarta Authentication

I think most of us agree that Jakarta Authentication is far more easy to remember than The Java Authentication Service Provider Interface for Containers. It may not be as precise and descriptive, but should that really be the requirement of the name? Wouldn’t it be better to have a name that we can remember and use in daily talk?

Jakarta REST

Think about Jakarta REST versus Java™ API for RESTful Web Services. I don’t think anyone ever uses the long name, but rather the abbreviation/acronym JAX-RS. Which isn’t even an acronym! It is just some collection of letters to fit into the JAX-* naming standard used by Sun back in the J2EE days.

Jakarta Messaging

The Java™ Message Service specification covers create, send receive and read messages. So it is much more than just a message service. In this case, Jakarta Messaging would be a much more descriptive name.

Participate!

We have created an issue in each of the specification GitHub projects as well as a Specification Project Renaming board in EE4J GitHub organization to track the process.

Please join the discussion by commenting on the issue related to the particular specification you are interested in. If you are the first commenting on an issue, please move it to the In Progress column. I will try to keep the status updated, but all help is welcome.

Final Thoughts

I am positive to renaming the specifications even if it is a lot of work and may seem like an unnecessary use of resources. It is an opportunity to fix something to the better in one go and this is probably the perfect time to do it.

Jakarta EE 8 Status

Those of you following Jakarta EE probably know that the upcoming Jakarta EE 8 release will be functionally equivalent to Java EE 8. The reason for this is that we want to prove that the transfer from Oracle is complete and that we are able to produce the processes, specifications, test suites and a compatible implementation through the Eclipse Foundation.

So far Eclipse GlassFish 5.1 has been released and certified as Java EE 8 compatible. The next step is to set everything up for Jakarta EE 8 and release Eclipse GlassFish 5.2 as Jakarta EE 8 compatible.

One of the tasks that need to be done in order to release Jakarta EE 8 is to transform the existing Java EE specification documents to Jakarta EE. This will involve renaming the specifications according to the trademark agreement between Oracle and Eclipse Foundation*.

In addition to this, the scope for the existing EE4J projects containing the APIs for the individual specs will need to be updated and the projects themselves will be converted into Jakarta EE specification projects as defined in the Eclipse Foundation Specification Process (EFSP). The Jakarta EE Specification process will be a specialization of the EFSP.

To keep track of all of this, we have created a planning board in the Jakarta EE Platform GitHub project.

Planning board for transitioning Java EE 8 specifications to Jakarta EE 8
Planning board for transforming the Java EE specification to Jakarta EE

What I have described in this post is just a couple of the things that need to be done regarding the specifications in order to get Jakarta EE 8 out the door. There are a lot of other activities involving the TCK and not the least Eclipse GlassFish 5.2 that need to be done as well. But for now, the most critical item is to get through the legal hurdles of the trademark agreement and the transfer of the specification documents over to Eclipse Foundation.

*) The details of this agreement is yet to be defined when this blog post is published.

Jakarta EE Developer Survey 2019

The Jakarta EE 2019 Developer Survey is available!

Take the survey today and help the community gain a better understanding of what’s in store for Java innovation. This is your chance to share your thoughts and experiences and help shape the future for Jakarta EE!

Jakarta EE 2019 Developer Survey
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JakartaEEMkt

Responses will be collected until March 25, 2019, at 11:59 PM Pacific Time

JCP Star Spec Lead 2018

Wow, what a year 2018 was for the MVC specification!

I know we are well into 2019 now and that I did sum up 2018 in early January. In that post, I mentioned that Christian and I received the JCP Outstanding Spec Lead Award at the JCP party for our work on JSR 371. At the same ceremony, Daniel Dias Dos Santos received the Outstanding Adopt-a-JSR Participant Award, also for his work on JSR 371.

And to top it all, Christian and I were announced as 2018 Star Spec Leads. Read more about the Star Spec Lead Program. 

A complete list of all Star Spec Leads can be found in the Star Spec Lead Hall of fame.

Eclipse GlassFish 5.1 is here!

The release of Eclipse GlassFish 5.1 is an important milestone for Jakarta EE!

First of all, it is a confirmation that the GlassFish source code contributed by Oracle is possible to build and assemble on Eclipse Infrastructure.

Second, by passing the Java EE 8 Compatibility tests, it verifies that the code contributed follows the Java EE 8 specifications, hence is Java EE 8 Compatible.

Download Eclipse GlassFish 5.1 and give it a try!

And while you’re at it, why don’t you try it out with Apache NetBeans as I have shown below.

Eclipse GlassFish 5.1 in Apache NetBeans 10

Java EE with NetBeans 10

The Apache NetBeans project is really shaping up. Version 10.0 was released on the 27th of December 2018. The main features added since version 9.0 are listed on the download page. For me personally, the most important feature is the JDK 11 Support.

So, what about Java EE then?

Until all the NetBeans sources have been transferred from Oracle to Apache and incorporated into the Apache NetBeans build, an additional step is required in order to get Netbeans set up for Java EE development.

The first thing you need to do is to add the NetBeans 8.2 Distribution Update Center. Select Tools->Plugins in Apache NetBeans 10.0. Then click on the Settings tab and choose Add. Paste in the URL: 

http://updates.netbeans.org/netbeans/updates/8.2/uc/final/distribution/catalog.xml.gz

Update Plugin Center Configuration

After saving the configuration, the next step is to select the Available Plugins tab and type java ee in the search field.

Search for Java EE plugins

As a minimum, check the plugin called Java EE Base and click the Install button. Follow the instructions and accept the licenses. NetBeans will need to restart before continuing after the installation.

After this, you are able to set up a Java EE server as shown with GlassFish 5.0 below. Choose Tools->Servers and then click Add Server.

GlassFish 5.0 with NetBeans 10.0

Happy Coding!

2018 Annual Summary

It’s this time of the year again. Time for the yearly summary of conferences, travels, community activities, open source projects, amazing people!

Like most recent years, I have been speaking at quite a few conferences around the World. The countries I visited as a speaker in 2018 were Sweden, Germany, USA, England, Denmark, France, Belgium, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

Speaker Appearances 2018

One of the highlights this year was to be awarded the JCP Outstanding Spec Lead Award together with Christian Kaltepoth for our work with JSR 371.

Getting the JCP Award for Outstanding Spec Lead 2018

Another acknowledgement by the community was to be re-elected for an associate seat in the JCP Executive Committee.

Besides speaking at conferences, a great deal of my time in 2018 was dedicated Jakarta EE at the Eclipse Foundation where I act as the PMC Lead of EE4J a well as being a member of the Steering-, Specification-, and Marketing Committees in the Jakarta EE Working Group.

All in all 2018 was an eventful year and I expect no less of 2019!

Oracle Groundbreaker APAC Tour 2018

This year, I was so lucky to get the chance to be part of the Oracle Groundbreaker APAC Tour 2018. The cities that I joined the tour was Perth and Melbourne in Australia as well as Wellington in New Zealand.

Perth, Australia

Copenhagen – (Singapore) – Perth
Gone swimming…

In Perth, I did a talk called Serverless with Java. I demoed various FaaS options available, including running Fn Project on Oracle Cloud. Between the sessions, I also managed to slip outside for a swim in the ocean.

Melbourne, Australia

Perth – Melbourne
New bush hat

In Melbourne, I had two sessions scheduled. The first was an informal Q&A with the local Java User Group. We had great discussions regarding the 6 months release cadence of Java, we discussed Jakarta EE and Eclipse MicroProfile and talked about Java development and Java user groups in general.

Later that afternoon, I did my Serverless with Java talk for a small, but an enthusastic crowd. 

Wellington, New Zealand

Melbourne – Wellington
Installing fn on OKE

The last stop on the journey was Wellington, New Zealand. Even here, it was the Serverless with Java talk that was put on the schedule.

To spice things up a little, I did a last minute try to get fn up and running on a managed Kubernetes cluster in Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.

I was close, so the next time I do this talk this will be part of the demos…

Wrap up

This was a fantastic trip, even considering the busy travel schedule and probably spending more time in the air or at airports than on the ground. The trip home from Wellington took ~36 hours door-to-door with short layovers in Auckland, Perth, and Singapore.

WLG – AKL
AKL – PER
PER – SIN
SIN – CPH

Source Code

The Function Duke project on GitHub contains all the source code for my serverless talks.