J2EE Blueprints Unrolled

Blueprints is a developer outreach program from Sun Microsystems' Java Software division. This program provides architectural recommendations and design guidelines that help Java developers most effectively use the J2EE platform and its various technologies. This article will explain

• What is the J2EE Blueprints program?
• Why is there a need for this program?
• How J2EE Blueprints achieves its goals
• To whom will this program be helpful?
• Where can developers get more information?
• Current releases and future directions

What are J2EE Blueprints

The J2EE Blueprints program is part of Sun Microsystems' effort to encourage J2EE developer education in the following ways:

• Defining and recommending the application programming model that best suits applications running on the J2EE platform
• Providing architectural recommendations and design guidelines for real world application scenarios on the J2EE platform
• Covering new J2EE platform technologies and features
• Addressing other platform related issues like scalability, portability,
interoperability and other topics that shape the future direction of the J2EE platform.

Why use J2EE Blueprints?

Sun knows that if the J2EE development platform is to succeed, the developer community must accept and learn to implement it. Developers need to know how and where to use the J2EE technologies for maximum advantage, as well as the types of architectural and programming models that are the best choice when developing and implementing applications.

The J2EE Blueprints program fulfills the important role of addressing and answering these issues and questions that arise when developing applications on the J2EE platform. Members of the J2EE Blueprints program work closely with the J2EE platform specification and reference implementation groups, so we can support the developer community by offering suggestions on the best architectural and application programming models. The J2EE Blueprints program also offers recommendations and design guidelines for using various technologies and features of the platform, as well as for dealing with issues of scalability, portability, interoperability and other topics related to the platform.

For Whom is Blueprints meant?

J2EE Blueprints primarily serves experienced Java developers who are already familiar with Enterprise Java and are ready to build applications with the J2EE platform. Such developers can be divided into two categories:

• Intermediate developers, who are familiar with the J2EE platform and its technologies (for example those who know how to write an enterprise bean or a servlet), and are on their way to develop their first full-fledged application on the J2EE platform.
• Advanced developers, who have designed and developed J2EE platform-based applications, and would appreciate guidelines on design and a place of reference for advanced technical information.