WebSphere Application Server V7.0: Concepts ... - IBM Redbooks

1.1 Java Platform Enterprise Edition (Java EE)
WebSphere is the IBM brand of software products designed to work together to
help deliver dynamic On Demand Business quickly. It provides solutions for
connecting people, systems, applications, and services with internal and external
resources. WebSphere is infrastructure software, or middleware, designed for
dynamic On Demand Business and for enabling SOA for your enterprise. It
delivers a proven, secure, robust, and reliable software portfolio that provides an
excellent return on investment.
The technology that powers WebSphere products is Java. Over the years, many
software vendors have collaborated on a set of server-side application
programming technologies that help build Web accessible, distributed,
platform-neutral applications. These technologies are collectively branded as the
Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) platform. This contrasts with the Java
Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE) platform, with which most clients are
familiar. Java SE supported the development of client-side applications with rich
graphical user interfaces (GUIs). The Java EE platform, built on top of the Java
SE platform, provides specifications for developing multi-tier enterprise
applications with Java. It consists of application technologies for defining
business logic and accessing enterprise resources such as databases,
enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, messaging systems, internal and
external business services, e-mail servers, and so forth.
Java Platform name changes: Java EE and Java SE were formerly named
Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) and Java 2 Platform, Standard
Edition (J2SE) respectively.
After this name change, J2EE 1.5 is renamed as Java EE 5. J2SE 6 is
renamed as Java SE 6. This book will cover these standards with their new
names.
The potential value of Java EE to clients is tremendous. This includes the
following benefits:
► An architecture-driven approach allowing application development helps
reduce maintenance costs and allows for construction of an information
technology (IT) infrastructure that can grow to accommodate new services.
► Application development standards, tools and predefined rules improve
productivity and accelerates and shortens development cycles.
► Packaging, deployment, and management standards for your enterprise
applications facilitate systems and operations management.
2 WebSphere Application Server V7.0: Concepts, Planning, and Design