December 18/25, 2000

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Doing EAI With The J2EE Connector

By Alan Radding

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ava doesn't exist in a vacuum. Java applications have to work with the existing enterprise information systems, whether homegrown or packaged software. Using Java Database Connector, Java Messaging Service, and even XML, the IT group can forge some basic links between these systems and Java applications, but Java really offered no comprehensive way for integrating diverse enterprise systems. Instead, developers cobbled together the necessary integration piece by piece using custom code and proprietary APIs. Few companies have wrapped these legacy systems in something generally accessible.

With the recent introduction of the Java 2 Enterprise Edition Connector architecture, Java now offers a solution to the problem of connectivity between application servers and existing enterprise systems. It provides a set of standard APIs that eliminate the need to customize applications for use with an application server. Instead, the Connector specifies a standard resource adapter for enterprise systems. The resource adapter plugs into an application server, providing connectivity among the enterprise system, the application server, and the enterprise application. According to Sun Microsystems, if an application server vendor has extended its system to support the J2EE Connector architecture, it's assured of seamless connectivity to multiple enterprise systems. Multiple resource adapters--one for each type of enterprise system--can be plugged into an application server.

The Connector specification, developed through the Java Community Process, was only recently unveiled, and it's drawing mixed responses.

"You'd think we'd get excited, but I haven't heard anyone wanting to take an existing application and integrate it. Usually, we want to rework the application," says a developer at a large multinational company. Other J2EE developers expressed curiosity but were too unfamiliar with the Connector at this early stage to make informed judgments.

Many analysts, however, are more enthusiastic. Says Evan Quinn, VP at Hurwitz Group, "The Connector is another area where Java is heading in the right direction."

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Illustration by Timothy Cook

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