J2EE 1.4 spec certified

J2EE 1.4 is now official, Sun announced this week.

The Java Community Process executive committee approved Java Specification Request 151 -- which features J2EE 1.4 -- by a 16-0 vote earlier this month.

Highlighted in J2EE 1.4 is adherence to the Web Services Interoperability Organization's (WS-I's) Basic Profile 1.0 document for implementing interoperable Web services. With J2EE 1.4, Sun is seeking to make Java the platform of choice for deploying Web services.

With J2EE 1.4 now approved, a software development kit enabling applications to be built based on Version 1.4 will be made available Monday at http://java.sun.com/j2ee.

Version 1.4 requires use of JAX-RPC (Java API for XML-based Remote Procedure Calls) for Web services.

"JAX-RPC was available independently, and now we have included it in J2EE 1.4," said Mark Hapner, Sun distinguished engineer and Web services strategist.

Additionally, J2EE 1.4 enables Web services to be deployed across any J2EE 1.4-compliant application server, Hapner said.

J2EE 1.4 also will deliver on work that is already in progress to improve support for J2EE tools and to provide minor enhancements to existing APIs as required, according to the official description of the specification.

Along with J2EE 1.4, Sun is releasing a developer edition of its application server based on Version 1.4. "This is in response to J2EE developers asking us over the years to include a deployable app server in the SDK," said Rick Schultz, group product manager of J2EE and the Sun Java Application Server at Sun. The J2EE 1.4-compliant application server will be Sun Java Application Server 8.

Sun also revealed that the Apache Software Foundation and JBoss Group will seek J2EE 1.4 certification for their respective Java-based open source application servers.