Java EE version history

Last updated May 10, 2019

The Java Platform, Enterprise Edition or Java EE (formerly known as Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition or J2EE) has undergone several changes since 1.0 as well as numerous additions of new specifications.

Java Enterprise Edition, formerly Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE), currently Jakarta EE, is a set of specifications, extending Java SE 8 with specifications for enterprise features such as distributed computing and web services. Java EE applications are run on reference runtimes, that can be microservices or application servers, which handle transactions, security, scalability, concurrency and management of the components it is deploying.

JPE (May 1998)

Announcement of the JPE (Java Platform for the Enterprise) project at Sun.

J2EE 1.2 (December 12, 1999)

List of J2EE 1.2 specifications Developer's Guide.
Technology	Version
JDBC Standard Extension API	2.0
Java Naming and Directory Interface Specification (JNDI)	1.2
RMI-IIOP	1.1
Java Servlet	2.2
JavaServer Pages (JSP)	1.1
Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB)	1.1
Java Message Service API (JMS)	1.0
Java Transaction API (JTA)	1.0
JavaMail API	1.1
JavaBeans Activation Framework (JAF)	1.0

J2EE 1.3 (September 24, 2001)

J2EE 1.3 abandoned support for the heavy-weight distributed object model(RMI-IIOP/CORBA) entirely, in favor of XML-based solution. Added JavaServer Pages Standard Tag Library (JSTL), Java Authentication and Authorization Service (JAAS) and J2EE Connector Architecture.

XML Markup language developed by the W3C for encoding of data

Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a markup language that defines a set of rules for encoding documents in a format that is both human-readable and machine-readable. The W3C's XML 1.0 Specification and several other related specifications—all of them free open standards—define XML.

List of J2EE 1.3 specifications developed under JSR 58 Tutorial
Technology	Version
JDBC Extension	2.0
Java Naming and Directory Interface Specification (JNDI)	1.2
Java API for XML Processing (JAXP)	1.1
Java Servlet	2.3
JavaServer Pages (JSP)	1.2
JavaServer Pages Standard Tag Library (JSTL)	1.0
Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB)	2.0
J2EE Connector Architecture	1.0
Java Message Service API (JMS)	1.0
Java Transaction API (JTA)	1.0
JavaMail API	1.2
JavaBeans Activation Framework (JAF)	1.0
Java Authentication and Authorization Service (JAAS)	1.0

J2EE 1.4 (November 11, 2003)

In response to emerging web services, J2EE 1.4 added XML-based web services support. This version also added component-based JavaServer Faces (JSF) technology intended to replace JSP.

List of J2EE 1.4 specifications developed under JSR 151 Tutorial
Technology	Version	JSR
Web Services Technologies:
Web Services for J2EE 1.1	1.0
Java API for XML Processing (JAXP)	1.2
Java API for XML-based RPC (JAX-RPC)	1.1
Java API for XML Registries (JAXR)	1.0
Web Application Technologies:
Java Servlet	2.4	JSR154
JavaServer Pages (JSP)	2.0	JSR152
JavaServer Pages Standard Tag Library (JSTL)	1.1	JSR52
JavaServer Faces (JSF)	1.1	JSR127
Enterprise Application Technologies:
Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB)	2.1	JSR153
J2EE Connector Architecture	1.5	JSR112
Java Message Service API (JMS)	1.1
Java Transaction API (JTA)	1.0
JavaMail API	1.3
JavaBeans Activation Framework (JAF)	1.0
Management and Security Technologies:
Java Authorization Service Provider Contract for Containers (JACC)	1.0
Java Management Extensions (JMX)	1.2
Enterprise Edition Management API	1.0
Enterprise Edition Deployment API	1.1

Java EE 5 (May 11, 2006)

In response to the complaints and heavyweight troublesome impression about J2EE (1.2, 1.3, 1.4) when developers reluctantly use and light-weight Spring/Struts/Hibernate framework is increasingly popular, J2EE was rebranded as Java EE 5 which comes in line with Java SE 1.5, trying to make EJB lighter weight by replacing entity bean with independent JPA. It also added Java API for XML-based Web Services (JAX-WS) and SOAP with Attachments API for Java (SAAJ), with the former text-based and asynchronous, the latter either binary-based or text-based but synchronous which is intended to be a simpler replacement for RMI-IIOP/CORBA.

List of Java EE 5 specifications developed under JSR244 Tutorial
Technology	Version	JSR
Web Services Technologies:
Web Services	1.2	JSR109
Java API for XML-Based Web Services (JAX-WS)	2.0	JSR224
Java Architecture for XML Binding (JAXB)	2.0	JSR222
Web Service Metadata for the Java Platform	2.0	JSR181
Java API for XML-Based RPC (JAX-RPC)	1.1	JSR101
Java API for XML Registries (JAXR)	1.0	JSR93
SOAP with Attachments API for Java (SAAJ)	1.3	JSR67
Streaming API for XML (StAX)	1.0	JSR173
Web Application Technologies:
Java Servlet	2.5	JSR154
JavaServer Faces (JSF)	1.2	JSR252
JavaServer Pages (JSP)	2.1	JSR245
JavaServer Pages Standard Tag Library (JSTL)	1.2	JSR52
Debugging Support for Other Languages	1.0	JSR45
Enterprise Application Technologies:
Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB)	3.0	JSR220
Java Persistence API (JPA)	1.0	JSR220
Java EE Connector Architecture	1.5	JSR112
Common Annotations for the Java Platform	1.0	JSR250
Java Message Service API (JMS)	1.1	JSR914
Java Transaction API (JTA)	1.1	JSR907
JavaMail API	1.4	JSR919
JavaBeans Activation Framework (JAF)	1.1	JSR925
Management and Security Technologies:
Java Authorization Service Provider Contract for Containers (JACC)	1.1	JSR115
J2EE Application Deployment	1.2	JSR88
J2EE Management	1.1	JSR77

Java EE 6 (December 10, 2009)

Starting from Java EE 6, Java EE is trying to incorporate and standardize concepts/features from and merge with Spring framework. The SOAP with Attachments API for Java (SAAJ) is now part of Java SE 6, and is thus available to Java EE 6 applications without needing to be included in the EE specification.^[1] The Java API for RESTful Web Services (JAX-RS) is now included in Java EE.^[2] Java EE 6 also standardized DI, AOP and others from Spring into Contexts and Dependency Injection for Java, Dependency Injection for Java, Bean Validation, Managed Beans, and Interceptors.

Java EE 6 introduced the concept of profile, which represents a configuration of the platform suited to a particular class of applications. The Web Profile offers a complete stack, with technologies addressing presentation and state management (JavaServer Faces, JavaServer Pages), core web container functionality (Servlet), business logic (Enterprise JavaBeans Lite), transactions (Java Transaction API), persistence (Java Persistence API) and more.

Java EE 6 also started pruning process which would prune and deprecate old and unused APIs.

List of Java EE 6 specifications developed under JSR 316 Tutorial
Technology	Version	JSR	Included in Web Profile
Web Services Technologies:
Java API for RESTful Web Services (JAX-RS)	1.1	JSR311
Web Services	1.3	JSR109
Java API for XML-Based Web Services (JAX-WS)	2.2	JSR224
Java Architecture for XML Binding (JAXB)	2.2	JSR222
Web Services Metadata for the Java Platform	2.1	JSR181
Java API for XML-based RPC (JAX-RPC)	1.1	JSR101
Java APIs for XML Messaging (JAXM)	1.3	JSR67
Java API for XML Registries (JAXR)	1.0	JSR93
Web Application Technologies:
Java Servlet	3.0	JSR315
JavaServer Faces (JSF)	2.0	JSR314
JavaServer Pages (JSP)	2.2	JSR245
Expression Language (EL)	2.2	JSR245
JavaServer Pages Standard Tag Library (JSTL)	1.2	JSR52
Debugging Support for Other Languages	1.0	JSR45
Enterprise Application Technologies:
Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB)	3.1	JSR318	Lite
Java Persistence API (JPA)	2.0	JSR317
Contexts and Dependency Injection for Java (CDI)	1.0	JSR299
Dependency Injection for Java	1.0	JSR330
Bean Validation	1.0	JSR303
Managed Beans	1.0	JSR316
Interceptors	1.1	JSR318
Java EE Connector Architecture	1.6	JSR322
Common Annotations for the Java Platform	1.1	JSR250
Java Message Service API (JMS)	1.1	JSR914
Java Transaction API (JTA)	1.1	JSR907
JavaMail API	1.4	JSR919
Management and Security Technologies:
Java Authentication Service Provider Interface for Containers (JASPIC)	1.0	JSR196
Java Authorization Service Provider Contract for Containers (JACC)	1.4	JSR115
Java EE Application Deployment	1.2	JSR88
J2EE Management	1.1	JSR77

Java EE 6 was first going to be developed under JSR 313 but was canceled. Java EE 6 was developed under JSR 316 and released on December 10, 2009.

The development was plagued with controversy, although passed by 14 yes votes, 1 no vote (Apache), and 1 abstention (Borland), members aired concerns relating to the licensing terms applied by Sun Microsystems.^[3]

IBM's "yes" vote was caveated with:

IBM's vote is based on the technical merits of this JSR and is not a vote on the licensing terms. IBM supports licensing models that create an open and level playing field by allowing third parties to create independent implementations of Java Specifications and that do not allow individuals or companies to exercise unnecessary control for proprietary advantage. We support open source as a licensing model for contributions in the JCP, and would hope others will support this direction. This comment is not necessarily directed at the current business or license terms for this JSR, however, it is a statement of IBM's preferred licensing model.

Intel's was caveated with:

The Spec Lead has told us there are no "field of use restrictions" on implementations for this particular JSR. The Apache open letter about Java SE^[4] claimed that a confidential license for a required JCP test suite restricts how Independent Implementations of that JCP spec can be used. Licenses to test for JCP compatibility must not be used to limit or restrict competing, compatible implementations; licenses containing such limitations do not meet the requirements of the JSPA, the agreement under which the JCP operates. For every JCP ballot, we will ask the Spec Lead whether such restrictions exist in their license.

Red Hat commented:

The spec lead of the EE6 specification has confirmed that the EE6 TCK would contain no "field of use restrictions", as originally raised by Apache with regard to another JSR (i.e. the SE TCK licensing). That is a good thing. However, in the absence of an explicit JSPA rule that would forbid such field-of-use restrictions, we will remain worried that a similar issue might resurface anytime, for any JSR. Consequently, in the future, for any submitted JSR (by SUNW or not), we will specifically expect the spec lead to provide clear information on that aspect and take the answer in account when casting our vote.

Apache voted NO with the following comment:

The Apache Software Foundation's vote is based on the point of view that this spec lead - Sun - is in violation of the JSPA^[4] and therefore shouldn't be allowed to start another JSR until the above matter is resolved. This vote is not a comment on the technical merits of the JSR. If not for the issue of the spec lead, the ASF would have otherwise voted "yes".

Java EE 7 (June 12, 2013)

In keeping up with the HTML5 trend, Java EE 7 added Java API for WebSocket, Java API for JSON Processing, and Servlet async and non-blocking NIO which was a primary reason Play Framework was started. In response to emerging big data trend, Java EE 7 added a complete solution for Batch Applications for the Java Platform.

HTML 5 is a software solution stack that defines the properties and behaviors of web page content by implementing a markup based pattern to it.

List of Java EE 7 specifications developed under JSR 342 Tutorial
Technology	Version	JSR
Web Application Technologies:
Java API for WebSocket	1.1	JSR356
Java API for JSON Processing	1.0	JSR353
Java Servlet	3.1	JSR340
JavaServer Faces (JSF)	2.2	JSR344
Expression Language (EL)	3.0	JSR341
JavaServer Pages (JSP)	2.3	JSR245
JavaServer Pages Standard Tag Library (JSTL)	1.2	JSR52
Enterprise Application Technologies:
Batch Applications for the Java Platform	1.0	JSR352
Concurrency Utilities for Java EE	1.0	JSR236
Contexts and Dependency Injection for Java (CDI)	1.1	JSR346
Dependency Injection for Java	1.0	JSR330
Bean Validation	1.1	JSR349
Managed Beans	1.0	JSR316
Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB)	3.2	JSR345
Interceptors	1.2	JSR318
Java EE Connector Architecture	1.7	JSR322
Java Persistence API (JPA)	2.1	JSR338
Common Annotations for the Java Platform	1.2	JSR250
Java Message Service API (JMS)	2.0	JSR343
Java Transaction API (JTA)	1.2	JSR907
JavaMail API	1.5	JSR919
Web Services Technologies:
Java API for RESTful Web Services (JAX-RS)	2.0	JSR339
Implementing Enterprise Web Services	1.3	JSR109
Java API for XML-Based Web Services (JAX-WS)	2.2	JSR224
Web Services Metadata for the Java Platform	2.1	JSR181
Java API for XML-based RPC (JAX-RPC) (Optional)	1.1	JSR101
Java Architecture for XML Binding (JAXB)	2.2	JSR222
Java APIs for XML Messaging	1.3	JSR67
Java API for XML Registries (JAXR)	1.0	JSR93
Management and Security Technologies:
Java Authentication Service Provider Interface for Containers	1.1	JSR196
Java Authorization Service Provider Contract for Containers	1.5	JSR115
Java EE Application Deployment (Optional)	1.2	JSR88
Java EE Management	1.1	JSR77
Debugging Support for Other Languages	1.0	JSR45
Java EE-related Specs in Java SE:
Java Architecture for XML Binding (JAXB)	2.2	JSR222
Java API for XML Processing (JAXP)	1.3	JSR206
Java Database Connectivity	4.0	JSR221
Java Management Extensions (JMX)	2.0	JSR3
JavaBeans Activation Framework (JAF)	1.1	JSR925
Streaming API for XML (StAX)	1.0	JSR173

Java EE 8 (September 21, 2017)

The main focus of Java EE 8 is on support for HTML5 and the emerging HTTP 2.0 standard; enhanced simplification and managed bean integration; and improved infrastructure for applications running in the cloud, continuing the direction of improved simplification, while extending the range of the Java EE platform to encompass emerging technologies in the web space and in cloud technology.

support for the emerging HTTP 2.0 standard
support for server-sent events.
Java API for JSON Binding (JSR-367)
JCache (JSR-107)
More cloud support(configuration, multiple tenants, security, REST-based APIs for monitoring and management)^[5]

In accordance with the pruning process defined by the Java EE 6 specification, it is considered designating the following as Proposed Optional in this release:

the EJB 2.x client view APIs (EJBObject, EJBHome, EJBLocalObject, EJBLocalHome) and support for CORBA IIOP interoperability.

Following the Java EE 8 release, Oracle made the decision to move Java EE development to the Eclipse Foundation^[6] and will be known, in future, as Jakarta EE^[7].

List of Java EE 8 specifications developed under JSR 366 Tutorial
Technology	Version	JSR
Web Application Technologies:
Java API for WebSocket	1.1	JSR356
Java API for JSON Binding	1.0	JSR367
Java API for JSON Processing	1.1	JSR374
Java Servlet	4.0	JSR369
JavaServer Faces (JSF)	2.3	JSR372
Expression Language (EL)	3.0	JSR341
JavaServer Pages (JSP)	2.3	JSR245
JavaServer Pages Standard Tag Library (JSTL)	1.2	JSR52
Enterprise Application Technologies:
Batch Applications for the Java Platform	1.0	JSR352
Concurrency Utilities for Java EE	1.0	JSR236
Contexts and Dependency Injection for Java (CDI)	2.0	JSR365
Dependency Injection for Java	1.0	JSR330
Bean Validation	2.0	JSR380
Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB)	3.2	JSR345
Interceptors	1.2	JSR318
Java EE Connector Architecture	1.7	JSR322
Java Persistence API (JPA)	2.2	JSR338
Common Annotations for the Java Platform	1.3	JSR250
Java Message Service API (JMS)	2.0	JSR343
Java Transaction API (JTA)	1.2	JSR907
JavaMail API	1.6	JSR919
Web Services Technologies:
Java API for RESTful Web Services (JAX-RS)	2.1	JSR370
Implementing Enterprise Web Services	1.3	JSR109
Web Services Metadata for the Java Platform	2.1	JSR181
Java API for XML-based RPC (JAX-RPC) (Optional)	1.1	JSR101
Java API for XML Registries (JAXR)	1.0	JSR93
Management and Security Technologies:
Java EE security API	1.0	JSR375
Java Authentication Service Provider Interface for Containers	1.1	JSR196
Java Authorization Service Provider Contract for Containers	1.5	JSR115
Java EE Application Deployment (Optional)	1.2	JSR88
J2EE Management	1.1	JSR77
Debugging Support for Other Languages	1.0	JSR45
Java EE-related Specs in Java SE:
Java Management Extensions (JMX)	2.0	JSR3
SOAP with Attachments API for Java (SAAJ) Specification	1.3	JSR67
Streaming API for XML (StAX)	1.0	JSR173
Java API for XML Processing (JAXP)	1.6	JSR206
Java Database Connectivity	4.0	JSR221
Java Architecture for XML Binding (JAXB)	2.2	JSR222
Java API for XML-Based Web Services (JAX-WS)	2.2	JSR224
JavaBeans Activation Framework (JAF)	1.1	JSR925

Related Research Articles

Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) is one of several Java APIs for modular construction of enterprise software. EJB is a server-side software component that encapsulates business logic of an application. An EJB web container provides a runtime environment for web related software components, including computer security, Java servlet lifecycle management, transaction processing, and other web services. The EJB specification is a subset of the Java EE specification.

The Java Transaction API (JTA), one of the Java Enterprise Edition APIs, enables distributed transactions to be done across multiple X/Open XA resources in a Java environment. JTA is a specification developed under the Java Community Process as JSR 907. JTA provides for:

The Java Message Service (JMS) API is a Java message-oriented middleware API for sending messages between two or more clients. It is an implementation to handle the producer–consumer problem. JMS is a part of the Java Platform, Enterprise Edition, and was defined by a specification developed at Sun Microsystems, but which has since been guided by the Java Community Process. It is a messaging standard that allows application components based on Java EE to create, send, receive, and read messages. It allows the communication between different components of a distributed application to be loosely coupled, reliable, and asynchronous.

Java Platform, Standard Edition is a computing platform for development and deployment of portable code for desktop and server environments. Java SE was formerly known as Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition (J2SE).

The Java Community Process (JCP), established in 1998, is a formalized mechanism that allows interested parties to develop standard technical specifications for Java technology. Anyone can become a JCP Member by filling a form available at the JCP website. JCP membership for organizations and commercial entities requires annual fees – but is free for individuals.

JavaServer Faces (JSF) is a Java specification for building component-based user interfaces for web applications and was formalized as a standard through the Java Community Process being part of the Java Platform, Enterprise Edition. It is also a MVC web framework that simplifies construction of user interfaces (UI) for server-based applications by using reusable UI components in a page.

Java Management Extensions (JMX) is a Java technology that supplies tools for managing and monitoring applications, system objects, devices and service-oriented networks. Those resources are represented by objects called MBeans. In the API, classes can be dynamically loaded and instantiated. Managing and monitoring applications can be designed and developed using the Java Dynamic Management Kit.

The Web Services Invocation Framework (WSIF) supports a simple Java API for invoking Web services, no matter how or where the services are provided. The framework allows maximum flexibility for the invocation of any Web Services Description Language (WSDL)-described service.

BeanShell is a Java-like scripting language, invented by Patrick Niemeyer. It runs in the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and uses a variation of the Java syntax, in addition to scripting commands and syntax.

The JavaServer Pages Standard Tag Library (JSTL) is a component of the Java EE Web application development platform. It extends the JSP specification by adding a tag library of JSP tags for common tasks, such as XML data processing, conditional execution, database access, loops and internationalization.

GlassFish is an open-source application server project started by Sun Microsystems for the Java EE platform and now sponsored by Oracle Corporation. The supported version is called Oracle GlassFish Server. GlassFish is free software, dual-licensed under two free software licences: the Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL) and the GNU General Public License (GPL) with the classpath exception.

RMI-IIOP denotes the Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) interface over the Internet Inter-Orb Protocol (IIOP), which delivers Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) distributed computing capabilities to the Java platform. It was initially based on two specifications: the Java Language Mapping to OMG IDL, and CORBA/IIOP 2.3.1.

The Java API for XML Web Services (JAX-WS) is a Java programming language API for creating web services, particularly SOAP services. JAX-WS is one of the Java XML programming APIs. It is part of the Java EE platform.

The Java Persistence API (JPA) is a Java application programming interface specification that describes the management of relational data in applications using Java Platform, Standard Edition and Java Platform, Enterprise Edition.

OpenJPA is an open source implementation of the Java Persistence API specification. It is an object-relational mapping (ORM) solution for the Java language, which simplifies storing objects in databases. It is open-source software distributed under the Apache License 2.0.

JAX-RS: Java API for RESTful Web Services (JAX-RS) is a Java programming language API spec that provides support in creating web services according to the Representational State Transfer (REST) architectural pattern. JAX-RS uses annotations, introduced in Java SE 5, to simplify the development and deployment of web service clients and endpoints.

Bean Validation defines a metadata model and API for JavaBean validation. The metadata source is annotations, with the ability to override and extend the meta-data through the use of XML validation descriptors.

The JBoss Enterprise Application Platform is a subscription-based/open-source Java EE-based application server runtime platform used for building, deploying, and hosting highly-transactional Java applications and services. The JBoss Enterprise Application Platform is part of the JBoss Enterprise Middleware portfolio of software. Because it is Java-based, the JBoss application server operates across platforms; it is usable on any operating system that supports Java. The JBoss Enterprise Application Platform was developed by JBoss, now a division of Red Hat.

References

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[1] ttp://docs.oracle.com/cd/E19798-01/821-1841/girdr/index.html

[2] ttp://docs.oracle.com/javaee/6/api/

[3] See http://www.oreillynet.com/onjava/blog/2007/07/jsr_316_java_ee_6_spec_approve_1.html

[apacheOpenLet-4] 1 2 Open Letter to Sun Microsystems

[5] Krill, Paul. "Exclusive: Oracle to reboot Java EE for the cloud" . Retrieved 2016-07-22.

[6] ttps://blogs.oracle.com/theaquarium/opening-up-ee-update

[7] ttps://mmilinkov.wordpress.com/2018/02/26/and-the-name-is/

Java platform editions

Java Card Micro Edition (ME) Standard Edition (SE) Enterprise Edition (EE) JavaFX (bundled in JRE from 8 to 10 but separately for JavaFX 1.x, 2.x and 11) PersonalJava (discontinued)
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