Enterprise JavaBeans

The Sun^TM Enterprise JavaBeans specification defines an architecture and interfaces for developing and deploying distributed Java^TM server applications based on a multi-tier architecture.

This specification intends to facilitate and normalize the development, deployment and assembling of applicative components (called enterprise beans); such components will be deployable on EJB platforms. The resulting applications are typically transactional, database-oriented, multi-user, secured, scalable and portable. More precisely, this EJB specification describes two kinds of information:

• The first one is the runtime environment, called EJB server, which provides the execution environment together with the transactional service, the distribution mechanisms, the persistence management and the security.

• The second one is some kind of programmer's guide and user's guide explaining how an enterprise bean should be developed, deployed and used.

Not only will an enterprise bean be independent of the platform and operating system (since written in Java), but also of the EJB platform.