Java Reference
In-Depth Information
OSGi revealed
This chapter covers
Understanding Java's built-in support for modularity
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Introducing OSGi technology and how it improves
Java modularity
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Positioning OSGi with respect to other technologies
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The Java platform is an unqualified success story. It's used to develop applications
for everything from small mobile devices to massive enterprise endeavors. This is a
testament to its well-thought-out design and continued evolution. But this success
has come in spite of the fact that Java doesn't have explicit support for building
modular systems beyond ordinary object-oriented data encapsulation.
What does this mean to you? If Java is a success despite its lack of advanced mod-
ularization support, then you may wonder if that absence is a problem. Most well-
managed projects have to build up a repertoire of project-specific techniques to
compensate for the lack of modularization in Java. These include the following:
Programming practices to capture logical structure
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Tr i c k s w i t h m u l t i p l e c l a s s l o a d e r s
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Serialization between in-process components
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