Lance Andersen's Blog

If you are writing J2EE applications then you should be using Java Application Verification Kit for the Enterprise

The Java Application Verification Kit for the Enterprise (J2EE AVK) is a valuable tool for any J2EE developer. The toolkit allows you to validate that your J2EE applications are correctly utilizing the APIs provided by J2EE and helps you to understand whether your application is using vendor specific features.

The newest release of the J2EE AVK provides support for J2EE 1.4 and incorporates some new features that I am sure you will find useful:

• Support for J2EE 1.4, J2EE 1.3 and J2EE 1.2 applications and standalone components
• Dynamic validation of WebServices which utilize Servlet or EJB based endpoints
• Support for component libraries
• A source code scanning mechanism to report the use of proprietary APIs
• Enhanced static verification of your applications and standalone modules

You are probably asking why should I starting using the J2EE AVK if my applications run just fine today? The use of the J2EE AVK will help you to find issues that might work with the current version of your application server, but could fail when you upgrade or migrate to another server.

One simple example of an error that the J2EE AVK will catch:

• You create a Session Bean and specify a transaction attribute for one of the methods on the home interface.

Now the above violates section 17.4.1 of the EJB 2.1 specification and on some application servers the deployment will fail and on some deployment will succeed but the attribute will be ignored.

Even if you have not had a chance to take the J2EE AVK for a test spin, we would be interested in your feedback to the following questions. We will be summarizing the responses as part of our J2EE AVK BOF:

• How often do you encounter portability issues during application development?
• What are your top three compliants when porting your applications from one application server to another?
• What tools if any besides the J2EE AVK do you use to help making porting your applications easier?
• In what areas, would you like to see additional tools to help ease the porting/migration of your applications from one application server to another?

I hope you will give the J2EE AVK a try. You can download a copy of the AVK from here.

To find out more about the J2EE AVK, consider attending one of the following JavaOne sessions:

• BOF-1530, Got Portable Apps? Using the JavaTM AVK to Help Write Portable JavaTM 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EETM) Applications
• TS-2945, Writing Portable Applications and the Java TM Technology AVK

If you cannot make any of the JavaOne sessions, please stop by the pavilion and visit POD #1225 Java Verified Program - Enterprise Application .

We look forward to seeing you at JavaOne!

Comments

• Questions
  Hi Lance,

  I'm planning to attend both talks on JavaOne (even though the session conflicts with a session from some friends of mine), but I have 2 questions I'd like to ask beforehand:

  1.Should I do a pre-research on the AVK before watching the sessions or are they pretty much introductory?

  2.I have the feeling that I read somewhere that the AVK is available in 2 levels, but only one is for free. Then a friend told me that now both are free. So, my second question is: how's the license schema right now?

  Regards,

  Felipe

  PS: sorry for the RTFMish questions, but right now I'm too busy preparing myself to JavaOne :-(

  Posted by: felipeal on June 22, 2004 at 11:16 AM

• Questions
  Hi Felipe,

  Thanks for the posting.

  You dont need to do any up-front homework regarding the AVK for the sessions.

  
  The AVK is now free :-) There is also a branding program for applications that is available, but you can download and utilize the entire AVK at no cost.

  Also, if you can spare a moment, I actually just added a few questions to the blog that we would like to capture info on for our BOF.

  I look forward to seeing you at JavaOne, you can find me in the AVK booth Monday morning and the J2EE booth Tuesday Afternoon.

  Regards
  Lance

  Posted by: lancea on June 22, 2004 at 11:24 AM

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