Migrate to Java EE 6

v8.5 of the product supports the Java EE 6 specification. Your new and existing enterprise applications can take advantage of the capabilities added by Java EE 6.

The product supports the following specification and (API) levels that are new in Java EE 6:

• JSR 318: EJB 3.1

• JSR 315: Java Servlet 3.0

• JSR 245 JSPs/Expression Language (JSP/EL) 2.1

• JSR 314: JavaServer Faces (JSF) 2.0

• JSR 199: JMS 1.1

• JSR-299: Java Contexts and Dependency Injection (JCDI) 1.0 (was Web Beans)

• JSR 317: Java Persistence API (JPA) 2.0

• JSR 322: Java EE Connector Architecture (JCA) 1.6

• JAX-WS 2.2

• JSR 311: Java API for RESTful Web Services (JAX-RS) 1.0

• JSR 196: Java Authentication Service Provider Interface for Containers (JASPIC) 1.0

• JSR 303: Bean Validation 1.0

The new specifications add several capabilities to benefit application developers, such as profiles that provide common features among applications.

Further, several specifications expand the use of annotations to more module types. Java language annotations simplify development of Java EE applications. By using annotations, many applications can avoid the need for deployment descriptors. In Version 7, the product supported annotations for EJB 3.0 and Web 2.5 modules . In Version 8, the product supports annotations for additional modules types, such as resource adapters or RAR files, as well as continues to support the use of deployment descriptors.

The general steps for migrating the enterprise applications follow.

1. Decide whether to take advantage of new Java EE 6 capabilities in the applications.

   The v8.5 product supports applications written to Java EE 6 and supports portable applications written to previous Java EE versions, specifically Java EE 5, J2EE 1.4, and J2EE 1.3. If we decide not to use new Java EE 6 capabilities, the portable applications will continue to work without change and with identical behavior on the current version of the platform.

2. If we select to use new Java EE 6 capabilities in the applications, change the applications as needed to conform to the specifications.

3. Deploy the applications.

   Deploy applications that use new Java EE 6 capabilities only to Version 8 deployment targets. We can deploy applications written to previous specifications to Version 8 deployment targets or to Version 6.x or 7.x deployment targets.

What to do next

Test the deployed applications to ensure that the applications behave as expected. Update the applications as needed.

Related concepts

Ways to install enterprise applications or modules

Specifications and API documentation

Related information:

Knowledge Collection: Migration planning for WebSphere Application Server