Riding on the popularity of its application server and database technology, IBM Corp. today announced that its WebSphere and DB2 have been certified as compatible with the latest version of J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition).
Officials with the Armonk, N.Y., company said the certification represents a compelling story for Web services development.
IBM announced that WebSphere and DB2 are compliant with J2EE 1.3, the most recent version of the enterprise Java application development framework announced in September by Sun Microsystems Inc. The latest version of the standard includes features and technologies that enhance Web services development, such as Java Messaging Service, increased integration with XML and support for the integration of CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) and Java applications.
“The key thing this illustrates is our leadership in enabling the application server to become more of an integration server,” for integrating things outside of Java, said Stefan Van Overtveldt, IBMs program director for WebSphere technical marketing.
Van Overtveldt said IBM is promoting integration technologies, such as the J2EE Connector Architecture (JCA).
“About 80 percent of this comes from IBMs Common Connector Framework, which lets Java applications integrate with non-Java applications,” he said.
IBM kept its attention fixed on the J2EE 1.3 standard as it evolved, looking to implement that standard in the “best fashion,” Van Overtveldt said.
“The spec only got finalized at the end of September, and we said we would wait until the spec went final” before implementing the standard in IBMs key technologies, he said.
IBM officials said J2EE 1.3 offers integration technologies that are key to the adoption of Web services, adding that IBMs offering of both a J2EE 1.3-certified application server and database enables the company to provide a stronger Web services solution.
“As we build on continuing our leadership in Web services, were building on things we already have,” Van Overtveldt said.