Over the last few years, modularity for Java has been an active discussion topic. From the (now defunct) JSR 277 to the recognition of JSR 291 and the ongoing JSR 294, modularity is seen as a necessary step in Java's evolution. Even future JVM-based languages like Scala are considering modularity. So, what does modularity mean, and why should you care?
Yesterday, Mark Reinhold posted the first public draft of the future of modularity in Java. As it is a draft, there are a handful of issues that still need to be agreed on - but it represents the consensus of what modularity in Java should look like. And with IBM being involved, there's more emphasis on interoperability with OSGi than there has been in the past.
Since the last bundle.update, a number of interesting events have occurred in the OSGi and modular Java space. JSR 294 has been (automatically) marked as inactive, the Enterprise Expert Group has released draft 4, WebSphere will allow direct running of OSGi applications and upcoming OSGi conferences have early bird discounts and call for speakers finishing soon.
It's been a month since OSGi 4.2 was released. What's been happening in the OSGi space since then?
Over the past month there has been a lot of debate on the current state of the Java Modularity working group (JSR 294). Although the JSR tries to find common ground between different module systems (notably Sun's Project Jigsaw and OSGi), the current set of proposals are overly complex and introduce the world's first concept of a meta-module system. Can the Simple Module System save JSR294?
Peter Kriens, technical director of the OSGi alliance, gave a presentation on the upcoming OSGi 4.2 release at the UK OSGi Users Group. The event was recorded, and the video is now available. OSGi 4.2 is expected to be released to the public by the end of August 2009 and includes a number of new features.
Java module systems has received a lot of attention lately. One reason for that was the controversy regarding JSR-277 which partially duplicated OSGi. Another was the plans for Java 7. In this article Lukas Krecan gives us a round-up of the current solutions and presents his concern on upcoming solutions like project Project Jigsaw and JSR-294.
This interview, conducted at QCon 2009, covers a wide range of topics beginning with a definition of OSGi and ending with an audience question about integrating OSGi into legacy application servers (like Websphere). In between Neil answers questions about the origins and evolution of OSGi, how OSGi compares to .Net modularization, and constraints on the use of certain Java libraries.
InfoQ recently sat down with Peter Kriens of the OSGi Alliance to learn more about OSGi. Kriens discussed OSGi's origins in the mobile space, it's integration with Eclipse, the current integration work with Spring, and the future R5 specification. He also discussed the ongoing debate over OSGi and JSR 277, and gave his perspective on what an ideal solution would be for modularity at the JVM level.
