The Java EE 7 Tutorial: Enterprise Beans
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Enterprise beans are Java EE components that implement Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) technology. Enterprise beans run in the EJB container, a runtime environment within GlassFish Server (see Section 1.4.2, “Container Types”). Although transparent to the application developer, the EJB container provides system-level services, such as transactions and security, to its enterprise beans. These services enable you to quickly build and deploy enterprise beans, which form the core of transactional Java EE applications.
The following topics are addressed here:
- What Is an Enterprise Bean?
- What Is a Session Bean?
- What Is a Message-Driven Bean?
- Accessing Enterprise Beans
- The Contents of an Enterprise Bean
- Naming Conventions for Enterprise Beans
- The Lifecycles of Enterprise Beans
- Further Information about Enterprise Beans
3.1 What Is an Enterprise Bean?
Written in the Java programming language, an enterprise bean is a server-side component that encapsulates the business logic of an application. The business logic is the code that fulfills the purpose of the application. In an inventory control application, for example, the enterprise beans might implement the business logic in methods called checkInventoryLevel and orderProduct. By invoking these methods, clients can access the inventory services provided by the application.
3.1.1 Benefits of Enterprise Beans
For several reasons, enterprise beans simplify the development of large, distributed applications. First, because the EJB container provides system-level services to enterprise beans, the bean developer can concentrate on solving business problems. The EJB container, rather than the bean developer, is responsible for system-level services, such as transaction management and security authorization.
Second, because the beans rather than the clients contain the application’s business logic, the client developer can focus on the presentation of the client. The client developer does not have to code the routines that implement business rules or access databases. As a result, the clients are thinner, a benefit that is particularly important for clients that run on small devices.
Third, because enterprise beans are portable components, the application assembler can build new applications from existing beans. Provided that they use the standard APIs, these applications can run on any compliant Java EE server.
3.1.2 When to Use Enterprise Beans
You should consider using enterprise beans if your application has any of the following requirements.
- The application must be scalable. To accommodate a growing number of users, you may need to distribute an application’s components across multiple machines. Not only can the enterprise beans of an application run on different machines, but also their location will remain transparent to the clients.
- Transactions must ensure data integrity. Enterprise beans support transactions, the mechanisms that manage the concurrent access of shared objects.
- The application will have a variety of clients. With only a few lines of code, remote clients can easily locate enterprise beans. These clients can be thin, various, and numerous.
3.1.3 Types of Enterprise Beans
Table 3–1 summarizes the two types of enterprise beans. The following sections discuss each type in more detail.
Table 3–1 Enterprise Bean Types
Enterprise Bean Type |
Purpose |
Session |
Performs a task for a client; optionally, may implement a web service |
Message-driven |
Acts as a listener for a particular messaging type, such as the Java Message Service API |