Java Business Integration

Anyone intent on developing a Java-based framework for enterprise integration would do well to keep a few things in mind. One lesson is that today's Java programmers want to write Java, not stylized or otherwise "special" Java that must incorporate framework-specific artifacts. Another lesson is that standardizing a suitable integration-focused framework would be a good idea, given that the alternative is to add yet another proprietary system to a field already rife with stove-piped solutions that don't work together. The most important lesson, however, could well be that when it comes to integration, Java can't solve it all. Making it possible for solutions outside traditional Java programming to work within the framework is thus a necessity, not a nicety. One standards effort currently targeting the business-integration space is Java Specification Request 208, entitled "Java Business Integration" (JBI). Like other JSRs in the Java Community Process, JBI obviously has to work with the Java 2 platform - in this case, both the standard and enterprise editions (J2SE and J2EE, respectively). It also wisely goes beyond the Java-centric focus in most JSRs and aims to accommodate implementation alternatives outside the pure Java space. The approach underlying JBI is a bit unusual compared to other JSRs in that it uses Web services at its core. Rather than focusing on how to build Web services using Java, it promotes an architecture that's strongly based on Web services' principles and approaches.