Jakarta EE

About

Jakarta EE is the open-source successor to Java EE, managed by the Eclipse Foundation. It provides a robust platform for building modern, cloud-native, and enterprise-level Java applications. Jakarta EE builds upon Java EE, preserving its core APIs while modernizing the platform.

• Formerly: Java EE (donated by Oracle in 2017)

• Governing Body: Eclipse Foundation

• Namespace Change: javax.* → jakarta.* starting from Jakarta EE 9

• Goal: Enable vendor-neutral, cloud-native enterprise Java development

• Foundation: Built on Java SE

Key objectives behind it

• Modernization of the platform

• Open governance and community-driven

• Cloud-native readiness

• Backward compatibility where possible

Jakarta EE Versions

Jakarta EE Version	Release Year	Key Highlights
Jakarta EE 8	2019	Identical to Java EE 8 but under Eclipse governance
Jakarta EE 9	2020	Big-bang namespace change: javax.* → jakarta.*
Jakarta EE 9.1	2021	Java 11 support
Jakarta EE 10	2022	Major updates, new APIs, pruning of outdated tech
Jakarta EE 11	Expected 2024	Java 21 support, further modularization (planned)

Major Specifications (APIs)

Web Tier

• Jakarta Servlet: HTTP request/response lifecycle

• Jakarta Server Pages (JSP)

• Jakarta Faces (JSF): Component-based UI framework

• Jakarta Expression Language (EL)

Business Logic Tier

• Jakarta CDI (Contexts and Dependency Injection)

• Jakarta EJB (Enterprise JavaBeans): Stateful/stateless services (minimized use today)

Persistence & Data Access

• Jakarta Persistence (JPA)

• Jakarta Transactions (JTA)

Messaging and Integration

• Jakarta Messaging (JMS): Queues and Topics

• Jakarta Connectors (JCA)

• Jakarta Mail

Web Services

• Jakarta RESTful Web Services (JAX-RS)

• Jakarta XML Web Services (JAX-WS)

Other APIs

• Jakarta Bean Validation: Validation constraints (formerly javax.validation)

• Jakarta JSON Processing (JSON-P)

• Jakarta JSON Binding (JSON-B)

• Jakarta Security

• Jakarta Batch

Deployment Models

• WAR: Web Applications

• EAR: Enterprise Applications

• Microservices: Via runtime optimizations and MicroProfile integration

Application Servers Supporting Jakarta EE

• GlassFish: Reference implementation

• Payara Server: Production-ready fork of GlassFish

• WildFly / JBoss EAP

• Open Liberty (IBM)

• Apache TomEE

• WebLogic: Partial support through Jakarta EE compatibility

Tooling & Development Ecosystem

• IDEs: Eclipse, IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate, NetBeans

• Build Tools: Maven, Gradle

• Testing:

  • Arquillian

  • JUnit, TestNG

  • Integration testing using Testcontainers

Advantages Over Java EE

• Open governance (Eclipse Foundation)

• Faster release cycles

• Designed for cloud-native and Kubernetes environments

• Removal of deprecated/legacy components

• Improved modularity

• New APIs and enhancements

Compatibility

• Jakarta EE 8 apps can run on Jakarta EE 9 servers via compatibility mode

• Java SE version alignment:

  • Jakarta EE 8 → Java 8

  • Jakarta EE 9.1 → Java 11

  • Jakarta EE 10+ → Java 17 / 21