Java Enterprise APIs Versus Jini (Java Enterprise in a Nutshell)

1.5. Java Enterprise APIs Versus Jini

Jini™ is the latest networking initiative from Sun. It is related to, but mostly incompatible with, the Java Enterprise APIs. Jini is a next-generation networking system designed to enable instantaneous networking between unrelated devices, without external communication. Jini is a system for distributed computing; it includes a name service, a distributed transaction service, and a distributed event service. Although these services overlap with JNDI, JTS, and JMS, Jini is fundamentally different from the Java Enterprise APIs. The Enterprise APIs are designed to bring Java into existing enterprises and to interoperate with existing protocols and services. Jini, on the other hand, is a next-generation networking system that was designed from scratch, with no concern for compatibility with today's distributed systems. Jini is a powerful and interesting technology, but covering it is beyond the scope of this book.