Spring & EJB: Present and Future
Enterprise JavaBeans is the original server-side component model for Java. While the writing is on the wall for the heavy, invasive EJB 2.1 standard, EJB 3.0, providing a programming model that is on the surface similar to Spring plus an O/R mapping library, is coming.
After an overview of the state of EJB, past, present, and future, including some of the problems which led to the creation of Spring itself, the first part of this session focuses on EJB 3.0. Both EJB 3.0 and Spring provide an Inversion of Control container (including dependency injection), and declarative transactional wrapping of application code. Attendees will learn how each framework tackles the same basic concerns, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each approach.
EJB 3.0 also includes an O/R mapping API, officially known as the Java Persistence API. This persistence framework is usable both inside and outside of an EJB container. This section of the presentation will also give an overview JPA and Spring's approach to integration with it. As with all integration code in Spring, the aim is not to replace the native API, but rather to reduce boilerplate code while offering a consistent usage model, eliminate the possiblity of resource leaks, and allow usage of multiple persistence frameworks in conjunction with each other.
The second part of this session looks at how Spring integrates with EJB 2.1, still an important concern for legacy reasons in many environments. Part of this includes an examination of the problems with the 2.1 programming model, many of which were in fact the drivers for Spring to be developed in the first place.
About Colin Sampaleanu
Colin is Director of R&D at SpringSource (now a division of VMware), which he co-founded in 2004. He is one of the original core committers on the Spring Framework, a published author, and public speaker. Since starting SpringSource he has served in a number of roles throughout various parts of the organization, including Engineering, Service Delivery, Support, and Sales. Colin is at his best when combining both technical as well as business and customer facing aspects.
Colin has had a long and varied career spanning 23 years in both the enterprise and shrinkwrap software space, including previous experience developing for and building out a retail software company.
Immediately prior to SpringSource, Colin spent 5 years as architect/chief architect at a leading software incubator and VC firm. Colin's role was split between one part hands on architecture, design, and coding, another part mentoring and teaching best practices at the code and process level, and a final part performing technical due diligence and consulting for the VC arm.
Throughout his career, Colin's experience, wide ranging interests and general knowledge in the technology space have led him to be a resource that others have been able to draw on for advice. In general, Colin's background has left him with a deep knowledge of all it takes to successfully release good software, at the code, process, and business level.
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