The download size for Application Server PE 8, with only a 36-Mbyte footprint, represents a major reduction when compared with that for Application Server 7. The requirement for startup memory stands at only 163 Mbytes--a much faster startup cycle and a significant improvement over Application Server 7.

Another contributor to an efficient cycle is that only two processes are loaded at startup: one for Application Server PE 8 and another for Sun Java System Message Queue (formerly Sun ONE Message Queue and hereinafter called Message Queue).

The most complete platform for Web services in the market today, the J2EE 1.4 platform supports WS-I Basic Profile 1.0 and enables Web services to interoperate on the basis of Web Services Description Language (WSDL) and Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP). Its many features include the following:

• Exposure of J2EE applications as Web services that are based on SOAP and Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)

• Integration with Web services and implementation of Web-service endpoints with Java servlets and Enterprise Java Beans (EJB) technology

• New APIs for Web services, deployment, and management of the J2EE platform, as well as authorization

• Updated APIs, including EJB, Java servlet, JavaServer Pages (JSP), and J2EE connector APIs

TABLE 1 describes the major API changes on the J2EE 1.4 platform.

Figure 1: Administration Console on Application Server PE 8 Click to enlarge

Application Server PE 8 provides the following developer tools:

• Administration Console -- For administering and configuring Application Server PE 8 from a GUI. Specifically, you can set up the following from the Administration Console:
  • Java Database Connectivity (JDBC), JMS, and connector resources
  • User and security realms
  • Configuration and tuning parameters for containers and services
  • Logging and monitoring levels of subsystems
  
  

• Deploy Tool (previously called the Assembly Tool) -- For assembling J2EE components into applications and for deploying those applications to Application Server PE 8.

• J2EE Application Verifier -- For performing predeployment checks on applications to ensure that their syntaxes and packaging are correct.

• Upgrade Tool -- For migrating configuration files from Application Server 7, Platform Edition.

  Figure 2: Deploy Tool on Application Server PE 8 Click to enlarge

• Migration Tool -- For migrating applications from BEA, IBM, and JBoss. You can download Migration Tool separately.

• Apache Ant 1.5 -- For building J2EE applications. Application Server PE 8 also includes a number of custom Ant tasks that simplify deployment and administration from Ant build files.

• Log Viewer -- For display of messages and processes. The logging capability, based on the J2SE logging API, boasts a new, uniform format and viewer. You can change the log level on a subsystem basis without restarting the server, and you can also add custom log handlers and filters.

  In addition, the search capabilities in the Log Viewer make it an efficient tool for developers and administrators alike.

• Monitoring -- For monitoring statistics and data that pertain to the performance and availability. Monitoring in Application Server PE 8 supports an infrastructure that complies with JMX and J2EE Management API 1.0. You can view the runtime state of a wide range of the server components, including the HTTP listener, the Java virtual machine, connection pools, and the Web container.

  In this release, you can access the monitored data with the asadmin command. In release 8.1, that data can also be displayed from the Administration Console.

Application Server PE 8 makes available three ways in which to deploy applications:

• From the Web-based Administration Console -- You can deploy J2EE applications or J2EE archive files from this GUI.

• From the command-line interface (CLI) -- The asadmin command enables application deployment from the command line. To automate deployment and build tasks, you can use the integrated Ant capabilities.

Figure 3: Log Viewer on Application Server PE 8 Click to enlarge

Note - Both the Administration Console and the CLI support remote administration and multiple administration domains, each with its own configuration, application repository, and logs.

• With Autodeploy -- Just drop the archive file or the entire application directory into the Autodeploy directory. To undeploy an application, simply delete those files.

Application Server PE 8 is the first middleware product that bundles and supports JavaServer Faces technology. That technology consists of a set of server-side APIs that represent user-interface components and that manage their state, event handling, and input validation. The APIs also define page navigation and support internationalization and accessibility. You can add custom UI components with a JSP custom tag library.

While developing with JavaServer Faces technology, each member of a development team can focus on a single piece of the process. A simple programming model then links the pieces, resulting in a much more efficient and simpler development cycle. Numerous tool vendors will provide support for building and deploying applications that are based on JavaServer Faces technology, including those built with Sun Java Studio Creator (code-named Project Rave), Sun's next-generation Rapid Application Development (RAD) tool.

Message Queue Platform Edition 3.5 SP1, an implementation of the JMS Specification, is an enterprise message server for deployment and development environments. Integrated with Application Server PE 8 through a resource adaptor that's based on J2EE Connector Architecture 1.5, Message Queue supports message server clusters, SOAP messaging over JMS, concurrent message delivery, multiple message transports (such as HTTP and HTTPS), and encryption.

For a higher level of availability, you can upgrade Message Queue to its Enterprise Edition.

PointBase 4.8, a small-footprint, JDBC database, offers an enhanced out-of-the-box experience for developing with and running the samples that are shipped with Application Server PE 8.

Additionally, Pointbase can serve as the database for EJB Container Managed Persistence.

Application Server PE 8 is bundled as part of two key Sun software products:

• Sun Java Studio Creator, a RAD tool with a highly visual development model that's slated for corporate developers who are building Java applications and services

• Sun Java Studio Enterprise, a set of development tools and services that are fully integrated with the capabilities of Sun Java Enterprise System

  This integrated development environment fulfills the demand of enterprise developers for a wide range of activities--from developing portlets for the Sun Java System Portal Server to creating entity beans for Application Server.

Application Server PE 8 is the foundation for the upcoming Standard Edition (SE) and Enterprise Edition (EE) releases. Migration of applications from the PE version will be seamless; no rewrites will be necessary. Furthermore, you will be able to run all J2EE applications that are developed on Application Server 7 on Application Server 8. Migration tools for migrating applications from other application servers to Sun Java System Application Server will be free from Sun.

The SE release will include these additional features:

• Support for multiple instances per domain

• Load balancing and clustering for enterprise-scale deployments

• Improved performance and greater scalability

• Additional ease-of-management capabilities

• Centralized infrastructures for application deployment and server configuration

• Exposure of managed beans (Mbeans) through APIs (also available in the next PE release)

The EE release will include high availability (99.999 percent uptime) with full failover for J2EE applications.

Recall that Application Server PE 8 bundles the J2EE Application Verifier. That verifier implements a subset of Java Application Verification Kit (AVK) tests.

The Java JVK for the Enterprise is a tool with which you can test your applications for the correct use of J2EE APIs and portability across application servers that are compatible with the J2EE platform. That way, you can ensure that your applications comply with the portability features on the J2EE platform without having to rewrite code for different servers or inadvertently writing non-portable code. The net result: a significant reduction of development cycles and related expenses for the enterprise.

For details, see the article, "Java AVK for the Enterprise."

Learn more about Sun Java System Application Server and the J2EE 1.4 platform by visiting the following:

• Sun Java System Application Server main page

• Sun Java System Application Server: developer hub

• The All New J2EE 1.4 Platform

• J2EE 1.4: The Gold Standard for Web Services

Also, be sure to interact with the developer community: Join the Sun Java System Application Server Software Forum and the J2EE SDK Developer Forum. You'll gain a lot of resourceful insight and many useful tips by participating in the discussion threads.