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Java EE Is Moving To the Eclipse Foundation (adtmag.com)

Oracle has chosen the Eclipse Foundation to be the new home of the Java Platform Enterprise Edition (Java EE), the company announced this week. Oracle made the decision in collaboration with IBM and Red Hat, the two other largest contributors to the platform. From a report: "The Eclipse Foundation has strong experience and involvement with Java EE and related technologies," wrote Oracle software evangelist David Delabassee in a blog post. This will help us transition Java EE rapidly, create community-friendly processes for evolving the platform, and leverage complementary projects such as MicroProfile. We look forward to this collaboration." Mike Milinkovich, executive director of the Eclipse Foundation, is optimistic about this move, which he said is exactly what the enterprise Java needs and what the community has been hoping for.

70 comments

  1. JBoss Development? by laie_techie · · Score: 1

    The article says that Oracle will continue to support its Weblogic server, but what about JBoss?

    1. Re:JBoss Development? by MtHuurne · · Score: 4, Insightful

      As far as I know JBoss is owned by Red Hat, so I wouldn't expect any news about it from Oracle. Since Java EE is a spec, not a code base, this move is good news for other implementations, as it means Java EE can continue without Oracle if needed.

    2. Re:JBoss Development? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So if Red Hat will get Java EE from Eclipse then will it still be possible to use Java EE in IntelliJ or do I have to switch to Eclipse?

    3. Re: JBoss Development? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can only repeat the first answer. They move a specification to a foundation. It does not affect implementations, and it certainly does not affect IDE support.

    4. Re: JBoss Development? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So IntelliJ will still work but only as long as I don't use the Java EE spec, in which case I would have to use Eclipse?

    5. Re:JBoss Development? by snookiex · · Score: 1

      And Glassfish, the Java EE application server inherited from Sun and supported by Oracle, seems to be doomed to oblivion. Happily, the project was forked.

      --
      Open Source Network Inventory for the masses! Kuwaiba
    6. Re: JBoss Development? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Eclipse foundation is not Eclipse IDE. It is an organization like Apache. Not related to IDE. It just happens to own it and have same name.

    7. Re: JBoss Development? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sir, your trolling is masterful. Or you don't get basics. Either way.

  2. I haven't used Java since my college days... by cdreimer · · Score: 0

    As a former NetBean IDE user, I find this development disturbing.

    1. Re:I haven't used Java since my college days... by Walking+The+Walk · · Score: 2

      As a former NetBean IDE user, I find this development disturbing.

      This is just the Java EE spec moving to the Eclipse Foundation, not Java SE or the standard Java SE implementation. So while it may slightly increase Eclipse IDE adoption, the decision won't have undo impact on NetBeans, IntelliJ or other IDEs.

      --
      A recursive sig
      Can impart wisdom and truth
      Call proc signature()
    2. Re:I haven't used Java since my college days... by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      Having tried both (althought not for a long time), I always remember NetBeans being much more polished and never understood why Eclipse was so popular.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    3. Re:I haven't used Java since my college days... by Walking+The+Walk · · Score: 1
      s/undo/undue

      Stupid auto-correct.

      --
      A recursive sig
      Can impart wisdom and truth
      Call proc signature()
    4. Re:I haven't used Java since my college days... by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      The version control plug in of Eclipse, especially abstracting away the conflicting wordings of the various SCC systems, is the best I have ever seen.

      And don't forget: Eclipse has a vi/vim plug in, too.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    5. Re:I haven't used Java since my college days... by hey! · · Score: 1

      Well, depending on when you were in college, Java's probably got a lot better since then. But we're not talking about Java. Java EE isn't a language; it's large framework written in Java for creating complex distributed systems, along with specifications for how to package and deploy software written in that framework.

      Early versions of Java EE had serious design flaws, the most serious of which was that it used a kind of thin interface to theoretically remoteable objects that in practice seldom were. Under the covers simple method calls incurred massive overhead that made those parts of Java EE impractical. But Java EE has one cool property: it makes it easy to create objects with method calls that are atomic, even when implementation underneath calls on resources that are distributed across a network and may individually fail.

      That's a pretty cool property, but here's the problem: not many projects actually *need* that. One thing that's become clear in the last ten years is that most of the time you can live with relaxed consistency. Global consistency always nice to have, but very seldom something you can't work around. But Java EE also came with a bunch of other stuff, unrelated stuff really, for packaging web applications, rendering HTML and so forth, and this is the bulk of most peoples' experience with Java EE. <carAnalogy: >That's like buying a car because it has a cool MP3 player, but you never actually listen to music.</carAnalogy:>

      Here's the problem with the car appendage to that metaphorical MP3 player: it was never particularly pleasant or convenient to drive. Which is not to say it didn't have its positive points, but it introduced a lot of behavioral complexity in order to scale a style of application that wasn't very scalable. Today, if wanted to build say, a website, that had a lot of user by modern standards, you just wouldn't build it that way. Probably the worst thing about Java EE was the sheer amount of brainspace it took to be competent in it. I ran a small development team, most of whom had graduate degrees, and many of them were almost crippled with information overload. That's bad; a good developer isn't satisfied with just getting something running.

      Java EE should always have been much smaller than it was; and the good bits probably should have been separate standards; and those standards should have been delivered as a specific, non-proprietary product (like Node.js) rather than an elaborate common blueprint for competing proprietary vendors. The fact that after all these years everyone's heard of Java EE but almost nobody really understands what it is shows there's a problem with the very concept of the thing. BUT, there are still important use cases for the good bits. Most of us will never be involved with those use cases, but they exist nonetheless.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    6. Re:I haven't used Java since my college days... by JohnFen · · Score: 1

      Speaking for myself, I use Eclipse because I develop for a wide array of platforms, and using a number of different languages.

      Eclipse can accommodate everything I need, so I can use the same IDE for all of my projects. That's a pretty huge win.

  3. I think it's a good choice by supertrooper · · Score: 3, Insightful

    As Eclipse IDE user maybe I'm bias, but at least things are moving in the right direction

    1. Re:I think it's a good choice by ledow · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The right direction being "Oracle washing their hands of it and having nothing more to do with it as they can't monetise it", so yes. This is definitely going in the right direction.

      At least they didn't just kill it off and bury it, like some of the other things they took over.

      Oracle's touch is like a death-knell to everything from Solaris to OpenOffice.

    2. Re:I think it's a good choice by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      It's an interesting development. IBM started an IDE to compete with SUN development products (Eclipse, get it?). Oracle buys SUN. Now what's left of SUN (Java EE, at least) gets handed over to IBM.

      Eclipse, indeed!

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
    3. Re:I think it's a good choice by fnj · · Score: 1

      they can't monetise it

      You mean they can't FIGURE OUT HOW to monetize it.

  4. The IDE Opinion by AlanObject · · Score: 1

    As a Jetbrains Professional subscription user, I don't see how this affects me one way or the other.

    1. Re:The IDE Opinion by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As a Jetbrains Professional subscription user, I don't see how this affects me one way or the other.

      you're a complete idiot so how CAN information affect you one way or the other?

  5. I guess it has been a long time. Eclipse has WAY more useful functionality than Netbeans.

    1. Re:What? by mark-t · · Score: 1

      It's probably subjective, but can you be more specific?

    2. Re:What? by cdreimer · · Score: 0

      It's probably subjective, but can you be more specific?

      When I was in college 15 years ago, NetBeans was more polished and ran better on my Dell laptop. Eclipse today probably has more plugins than NetBeans to do something else beside Java. When I developed PHP modules for Joomla ten years ago, I used Eclipse with the PHP plugin. Today I use PyCharm for Python that is based on the IntelliJ IDEA IDE.

    3. Re:What? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Christopher, my sweet sugar pie love,

      I am deeply sorry. I didn't feel well lately but I am better now.
      I am sorry that I called you all sorts of names on /. and I feel
      truly ashamed of myself.

      The python click script you wrote for me my sweet love for my
      pheromone revenue stream web site suddently stopped to work.

      Could you come visit me in my studio so we could look at it?

      Update: I could go get you at work around noon and we could go have
      lunch at the Cafe Latte near by where we went last week and
      tonight we could have a look at that python click script you
      wrote for me my sweet love for my pheromone revenue stream web site.

      Signed:
      Your sweetee who will love you for ever.

    4. Re:What? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      mark-t was not asking YOU to be more specific. No one really wants to interact with you.

    5. Re:What? by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      Let's put it this way - Eclipse 2.x in 2003 or so was essentially a piece of crap. By 2005 or so, with Eclipse 3.0, it was much much better. I use both Eclipse and IntelliJ these days, and can say that Eclipse has IntelliJ beat in many areas, but there are a few IntelliJ pieces that are better. Visual Studio is several notches below both, as is XCode, although those both have their specific uses. Netbeans in the one version (6?) I attempted to use reminded me much of Visual Cafe. Clunky, obtuse, and just plain difficult to navigate and move around in. I guess if it was your first IDE you'd have a lot of trouble adjusting to a real IDE.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    6. Re:What? by mark-t · · Score: 1

      Clunky, obtuse, and difficult are nice adjectives, but they are still quite vague on details.

    7. Re:What? by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      Considering when that version was released, I can only relay my impressions at this time. I'm sure improvements happened since then, but the main impression I retained was that it was a fundamentally different approach to development, more in line with older IDEs that failed. I recall things like IBM's rational rose integrated IDE that did some weird object oriented based views of code, instead of how everyone else does it. I also recall having to hit a lot more odd interstitial menus to accomplish simple things, and it just didn't flow with the way I'm used to coding. Hence my comment that if it was your first IDE, moving to another "standard" from my viewpoint IDE would be difficult. I guess I should also mention that in over 30 companies I've been involved with, not a single one had developers using netbeans. In fact, not a single developer I've worked with used netbeans.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
  6. Why does a language need an "Enterprise Edition"? by Viol8 · · Score: 1

    C/C++ just has compilers and libraries. There's no special "enterprise" version of the compiler (well, not on linux/unix, MS VC++ might be a different story) so why does java have to have these artificial demarcations other than as marketing device?

  7. Alright by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How does this help Larry Ellison buy yet another yacht? Are they going to just use this to enrich the Java brand, sell support, or what?

    1. Re:Alright by rholtzjr · · Score: 1

      It removes his company from any resource expenditures associated with the maintenance of the widely used framework (themselves included). This should have been a no-brainer. Removing the maintenance costs, but retain the benefits. In addition, their attempts to monetize it pretty much has been exhausted.

      IMO, I believe that had they continued to pursue the path of trying to monetize the entire framework or even portions of it, supporters would have just abandoned it, and in the long run hurt themselves even worse and brought quite a few other big companies with them.

      So in answering your question, it freed up money so he COULD buy an even bigger yacht.

    2. Re:Alright by PCM2 · · Score: 1

      This should have been a no-brainer. Removing the maintenance costs, but retain the benefits.

      I'm not sure I see how it removes the maintenance costs.

      • Does Oracle no longer plan to participate in the Java EE design and review process?
      • Does Oracle plan to discontinue Weblogic?
      • Does Oracle no longer plan to support the Java EE SDK?

      Unless the answer is no, it seems like this move will save a little personnel overhead but little else.

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
    3. Re:Alright by rholtzjr · · Score: 1

      I guess it will have to be seen as to WHAT PARTS of the EE product will actually be moved outside of their company. But from the sounds of it, this move is to further development in the EE product as a whole at a more rapid pace without having to put cash infusions by themselves. The related costs for just maintaining a major project is not a drop in the bucket. Enhancing one costs even more. Now they want to enhance it more rapidly.

      Do it by yourself? Or, release the project to a foundation with a record of successful management of large projects. I do not believe any large company does ANYTHING without looking at the money factor. Plus they gain the expertise of the Open Source community that is already part of the Eclipse foundation (e.g. IBM, RedHat, etc.). Added bonus.

      What I am wondering is WHY now? Why only the EE product? Coincidence it coincide to a restructuring as they plan to drop the SPARC architecture and Solaris? What is next?

    4. Re:Alright by oddtodd · · Score: 1

      They are also giving NetBeans to the Apache Foundation, the first donation just made it on git with another to come.
      Same reasoning, more developers and faster development, less financial pain.

      --
      I have plenty of common sense, I just choose to ignore it. -- Calvin
    5. Re:Alright by rholtzjr · · Score: 1

      I always did like NetBeans, but it seemed to fall behind in some of the support while ahead in others. Maybe now it can be a little more consistent.

  8. Total Eclipse by dmt0 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Of Sun

    1. Re:Total Eclipse by Big+Hairy+Ian · · Score: 1

      Who let Bonny Tyler out?

      --

      Build a Man a Fire, and He'll Be Warm for a Day. Set a Man on Fire, and He'll Be Warm for the Rest of His Life.

  9. Re:Why does a language need an "Enterprise Edition by bws111 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Java is not just a language, it is also a platform (JVM, APIs, etc). The different editions are for the plaform not the language. So there is a platform for 'normal' usage (SE), a platform for long-running, network intensive applications (EE), and a platform for lightweight use (ME).

  10. Re:Why does a language need an "Enterprise Edition by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 4, Informative

    Java is not a compiler.

    It is a huge set of specifications, a huge set of standard libraries, and a mountain of open source frameworks and platforms. And VMs ...

    SE: standard edition, mainly for desktop apps, but the line to EE is blurry
    EE: enter prise edition, defines standards for accessing DBs, do OR mapping (via annotations (*)), have annotation(*) based REST/SOAP services and build in tools to support development or out of the box deployment

    In other words, if you want to run a C++ web service, you first need a web server (extra download and install) where you can deploy your *.so/*.dll to, then you configure something that the web server knows what requests to route to your plug in.

    In Java EE, there is a build in web server, and you simply deploy the *.dll analogon (a *.war) and the server configures everything automatically, based on annotations (*)

    (*) an annotation can be considered as a smart comment. The compiler puts it into the object code and the deployment environment interprets it (with framework support) and weaves the necessary missing code around it or uses reflection to orchestrate what ever the annotations are supposed to do.

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  11. Re:Why does a language need an "Enterprise Edition by Bite+The+Pillow · · Score: 1

    Naming is stupid, geared to large business acceptance. Microsoft has the same .Net language, but with IDE differences instead of language differences. And they have a compact framework with a subset of language features like ME.

    https://stackoverflow.com/ques...

  12. Re:Why does a language need an "Enterprise Edition by AuMatar · · Score: 1

    Its a framework on top of the Java language. It should have been called something else to prevent confusion, but Sun wanted to make sure the word Java was plastered everywhere.

    --
    I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
  13. Obligatory Oracle Blog Post Source by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    https://blogs.oracle.com/theaquarium/opening-up-ee-update

  14. Good news by JohnFen · · Score: 1

    The less that I have to deal with Oracle, the better my life is.

    1. Re:Good news by PCM2 · · Score: 1

      I'm certain IBM was one of the main ones jockeying for this, and IBM seems to prefer the Eclipse Foundation for whatever reason.

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
    2. Re:Good news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      IBM seems to prefer the Eclipse Foundation for whatever reason

      Because one of their cash cow products, RAD (Rational Application Developer), is just Eclipse with some extraneous plugins. Same as another cash cow, WAS (Websphere Application Server), is a slightly glorified version of Tomcat.

      IBM gets a huge amount of free software development by repackaging those open source projects and slapping five- to seven-digit price tags on them

    3. Re:Good news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You sure managed to pack a lot of stupid into a short post. First, Eclipse was developed in house by IBM. It was IBM that open sourced it and created the Eclipse Foundation.

      Second, Rational is not just a repackaged Eclipse.

      Last, Websphere has nothing in common with Tomcat except being an application server.

  15. Re:Why does a language need an "Enterprise Edition by JohnFen · · Score: 1

    Naming things in an unclear and/or confusing manner is a time-honored tradition in the Java world.

  16. Re:Why does a language need an "Enterprise Edition by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    C/C++ just has compilers and libraries. There's no special "enterprise" version of the compiler (well, not on linux/unix, MS VC++ might be a different story) so why does java have to have these artificial demarcations other than as marketing device?

    For hysterical reasons Java EE is basically the name of a collection of libraries for making certain enterprisy stuff.

  17. Re:Why does a language need an "Enterprise Edition by naris · · Score: 1

    "Java EE" is not the language, it's the platform/framework/API for web applications. It's more like Microsoft MFC or .net then C++ or C#

  18. Apache? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Apache would have been a better choice.

    1. Re:Apache? by PCM2 · · Score: 1

      Reposting because I accidentally replied to the wrong comment:

      I'm certain IBM was one of the main ones jockeying for this, and IBM seems to prefer the Eclipse Foundation for whatever reason.

      --
      Breakfast served all day!
  19. i'm very happy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    i'm very happy to be certain that we will never hear about "IEEE no longer takes care of C"

  20. Re:Why does a language need an "Enterprise Edition by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    And how exactly would you name a Java release/bundle/specification that is aimed for enterprices and business applications like Amazon or Twitter?

    Enterprise Edition sounds fine dor me.

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  21. Re:Why does a language need an "Enterprise Edition by slack_justyb · · Score: 1

    Using as many acronyms as possible all starting with/having a J is also a time-honored tradition. What with EJB, JAAS, JAX-WS, JAX-RS, JSP, JSF, JTA, JPA, JMS, JCA, and on and on and on the list goes.

  22. Re:Why does a language need an "Enterprise Edition by fnj · · Score: 1

    You didn't answer the question. The question is, why can't the "platform" mumo jumbo just be furnished as add-on libraries?

  23. Re:Why does a language need an "Enterprise Edition by fnj · · Score: 1

    Oh for Christ sake. It's Java. Period. The same goddam language syntax as any other "edition" of Java. Why do you have to try to make it sound grand? Linux is written in C, not "Super OS Developer's Edition C". So it includes a whole lot of functions. So what.

  24. Most Ironic by u19925 · · Score: 1

    IBM chose the name "Eclipse" to fight against "Sun" and that was the primary reason for Sun to not join Eclipse. It was derogatory to them. Now it is Eclipse which forever going to hide Sun. With OpenOffice, Sparc and Solaris going away, Java was the only remnant of Sun under Oracle (which acquired Sun) and now that too is gone. Effectively, Oracle is now Sun free and will have Eclipse instead (it is not getting rid of J2EE from its products).

    1. Re:Most Ironic by rholtzjr · · Score: 1

      Wellll, IBM was pretty ticked off at Sun for trying to disrupt their mainframe market with the E10K line models back in the late 90's. Now REAL irony was that the company I worked for actually had a lease for their E10K (Sun product), with.... you guessed it IBM.

  25. Re:Why does a language need an "Enterprise Edition by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    Yeah, and a CD is the same as a DVD is the same as a Blue Ray Disk ...

    There are about 5 editions of Java:
    Standard Edition
    Enterprise Edition
    Micro/mobile Editon
    Inoffical real time Edition
    Inofficial (several) embedded Edition

    Deal with it.

    No idea what you want to rant about.

    So it includes a whole lot of functions. So what.
    If you want to break it down to this level of ignorance: yes, Java EE has more functions than Java SE. Facepalm.

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  26. Re:Why does a language need an "Enterprise Edition by bws111 · · Score: 2

    I did answer the question. It is more than 'just libraries'. The JVM, for example, is not 'just a library'.

    The 'editions' are just specifications. They are closer to something like POSIX than 'C'. The editions specify not only the libraries, but also things like how applications should be packaged, etc. If your Java installation meets the spec for the 'edition' that is required by an application, then you can run the application WITHOUT having to install a bunch of libraries, etc.

  27. Re:Why does a language need an "Enterprise Edition by AuMatar · · Score: 1

    Anything without Java in the name, to decrease the level of confusion. Like every other framework in the world. It was an idiotic decision driven by morons and marketers.

    --
    I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
  28. Re:Why does a language need an "Enterprise Edition by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    And what would be the alternative to power Amazon, Zalando, Google, Twitter?
    Just to name a few?

    C? Assembly?

    Please go back under your rock, troll.

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  29. Re:Why does a language need an "Enterprise Edition by jeremyp · · Score: 1

    JEE is a specification. It's a set of APIs and specifications for packaging applications. Typically, it is furnished as add-on libraries.

    --
    All I want is a secure system where it's easy to do anything I want. Is that too much to ask ~~ Randall Munroe
  30. Re:Why does a language need an "Enterprise Edition by AuMatar · · Score: 1

    Amazon was more than 50% C++ when I worked there. And those services tended to be more reliable. But at any rate, I said the NAME of an enterprise framework shouldn't include Java, which a 2nd grade reading comprehension would have told you. That name has only ever caused confusion.

    --
    I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
  31. Re:Why does a language need an "Enterprise Edition by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    And why should it not contain Java, when the inventor of Java thinks so?
    After all it is a Java VM, with a javac compiler and Java enterprise specifications with reference implementations in the Java language?
    And it is completely useless for C++ or other languages unless you want to interface those vi JNI with "Java"?

    shouldn't include Java, which a 2nd grade reading comprehension would have told you.
    Then you should perhaps use first grade writing skills, or have a clue about what you write. Why a Java Edition that contains the word "Enterprise" should drop the word "Java" is incomprehensible for me :D

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  32. Re:Why does a language need an "Enterprise Edition by AuMatar · · Score: 1

    Because its not Java. Java is a language. J2EE is a framework on top of it. Once again, some lessons in reading comprehension would really help you out.

    --
    I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
  33. Re:Why does a language need an "Enterprise Edition by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    Java is an island some where in the Pacific.
    Java is a enterprise computing platform and frameworks.
    Java is a programming language.

    Feel free to run your 'J2EE' framework dependent applications on a backend without installing the Java Enterprise Edition.

    I might have overseen an important statement you want to make, however you seem just to be a nitpicker.
    No one really understands/grasps what you want to say.

    Google around and install 'Java the language' on your computer, and see how fat that gets you.

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.