Tim Anderson's ITWriting

July 11, 2006

Don't use Java Enterprise Edition

...says Burton Group analyst Richard Monson-Haefel in JEE5: The Beginning of the End of Java EE. His main point: J2EE is too complex, and JEE5 has failed to fix the problem. He names alternatives including Spring, Hibernate, and Struts in the Java world, and LAMP, Ruby on Rails, and Microsoft .NET outside it.

The simplification of J2EE in JEE5 is founded on two key ideas. One is to eliminate the need for XML deployment descriptors, in favour of source-code annotations. The other is to reduce the need for this metadata by adopting sane defaults. However, in a key paragraph headed JEE5's Attempt to Address Ease of Development Monson-Haefel says this has failed. He argues that the move from XML deployment descriptors to source-code annotations has merely shifted the complexity, and not reduced it. In addition, the need for backward compatibility means there is now an interaction between two rival forms of configuration. As for default values, the implication is that these are frequently inadequate.

The big winner in Monson-Haefel's analysis is Microsoft .NET: equally capable, far more productive, a single vendor and a single implementation.

Perhaps the most impressive part of this paper is the bio at the end. Here's how it starts:

Background: Member of the JCP Expert Committee, member of EJB 2.1, EJB 3.0, and J2EE 1.4 JCP Expert Groups. Architect of OpenEJB, the open source EJB container system used in Apache Geronimo; Co-founded Apache Geronimo, an open source J2EE platform. Over eight years of Java/J2EE consulting on application development.

Nobody, then, can accuse Monson-Haefel of unfamiliarity with the platform. But is he right? Well, few would argue with the underlying proposition, that J2EE is unnecessarily complex for the majority of application requirements. The success or otherwise of the simplifications in JEE5 is more contentious. Interesting paper.

See also: Spitting-up the Hippo: Turning my back on J2EE from the same author's blog.

Note: That blog appears to be offline now; I'll leave the link in case it returns. Here's a snippet from the post:

Over the years however, EJB and its super set, J2EE, became increasingly complex until there was so much information it was difficult if not impossible to swallow. Today I'm a recovering J2EE developer; I've successfully regurgitated the massive J2EE bolus that slowed me down and made me mentally lethargic.

Tags: j2ee jee5 java .net