Java Reference
In-Depth Information
JBI
Java Business Integration 1.0 (JBI) is a specification published by the Sun JSR process as
JSR 208. It was released in August 2005, and it defines a standards-based architecture for
integration built on the idea of a meta-container. As Java developers and architects, we're
used to talking about servlet containers (which serve as an execution environment for ser-
vlets and JSPs) and EJB containers (which serve as an execution environment for Enterprise
JavaBeans). Developers write an EJB, and they execute inside an EJB container. But JBI
defines a meta-container, or a container of containers. This meta-container does not execute
anything itself. It serves as a life cycle management point for a collection of engines that are
each capable of executing a specific kind of integration technology. That means that as long
as you conform to the interface required by JBI, you can write an engine that executes some
arbitrary specific code, instead of the specification dictating to you what you will be allowed
to execute (as is the case with EJB).
The idea is this: someone implements the JBI spec and then they (or other vendors) can in
turn implement engines that are pluggable within that container. Just as a servlet written to run
in Tomcat can port to WebSphere and run there with little or no modification, so too can JBI
service engines port from one JBI implementation to another. Each engine plugged into the
JBI environment is capable of executing one specific integration technology, such as BPEL
for orchestration, JDBC connectors, file connectors, and so forth.
JBI is intended for SOAs, with an aim toward avoiding vendor lock-in. In fact, JBI is actually
a little SOA itself, with this architecture supporting very loose coupling between components.
The overall goal of JBI is to help you avoid creating an SOA in order to free yourself from the
underlying legacy platforms in your enterprise, only to find that you have tied yourself to a
proprietary underlying ESB technology right at the heart of your enterprise. This is a laudable
goal indeed.
The JBI Architecture
JBI is a message-based, pluggable meta-container. As mentioned earlier, a meta-container acts
as a host of hosts. It allows arbitrary container environments, each specific to a certain tech-
nology, such as JDBC, XSLT, BPEL, Java, and so forth, to execute inside it. It doesn't define
the components that will be plugged into JBI; it only defines the framework, the interfaces,
and the abstract life cycle that allows plugged-in components to execute together in harmony
and be leveraged by developers writing components deployable to one of those single envir-
onments.
