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What's New with WebSphere Application Server Version 6.1?

Programming Model Changes and Enhancements
Java 2 Standard Edition (J2SE) 1.5 - One of the most significant enhancements added for the WAS 6.1 programming model is support for J2SE 1.5 (aka J2SE 5). The application server runtime and application clients now only run on J2SE 5. The "J2SE 5 in a Nutshell" article on the Sun Web site provides an overview of the enhancements contained in J2SE 5. Beginning with V5R4, i5/OS now provides two J2SE 5-compliant JVMs:

• IBM Developer Kit for Java 1.5: Classic 64-bit JVM technology that was also used in previous J2SE versions on i5/OS now provides J2SE 5 support. This is the only JVM supported by WAS 6.1 on V5R3 and is the default JVM used by WAS 6.1 when installed on V5R4.
• IBM Technology for Java Virtual Machine: Common 32-bit JVM that's available on several different operating systems such as Microsoft* Windows, AIX 5L* and Linux*. WAS 6.1 runs on this JVM when run on these operating systems and may be configured to run on this JVM when run on i5/OS. This JVM is shipped on the i5/OS V5R4 CDs as option 8 of the 5722-JV1 licensed program.

See the WAS 6.1 product documentation for information on which JVM to use with WAS 6.1 and for instructions on configuring the JVM used by WAS 6.1.

Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) 1.4 Compliance - J2EE is the core WAS application programming model. As is the case with WAS 6.0, WAS 6.1 is fully J2EE 1.4 compliant and supports the same versions of the J2EE specifications. Table 6 describes the J2EE specifications and APIs supported by the various WAS releases including WAS 6.1.

Portlet Container - WAS 6.1 provides a new application-runtime container that may be used to run portlet application components. A portlet is a special form of Java servlet that provides access to different Web content, services and applications all on the same portal page. The portlet is used to display this content and coordinate communication among these components. Java Specification Request (JSR) 168 is a new Java specification to standardize portlets and portlet containers. WAS 6.1 provides support for JSR 168. The "JSR 168: Portlet Specification" provides more information on portlets and portlet containers (see the "Further Information" sidebar for a link).

JavaServer Faces (JSF) - JSF is a user-interface framework that eases the development of Java-based Web applications. WAS 6.1 supports JSF 1.1 (JSR 127) at a runtime level, thus reducing the size of Web applications since runtime binaries no longer need to be included in your Web application. The JSF runtime makes it easier to construct a user interface from a set of reusable interface components and simplifies migration of application data to and from the user interface. Web applications utilizing JSF 1.0 will continue to run without modification. The JSF Widget Library (JWL), a JSF-based Web-widget library that integrates widgets from several sources, is also provided in this release.

Derby/Cloudscape Support - Cloudscape is a 100-percent pure Java relational database product. WAS 6.1 now installs Cloudscape 10.1.x (WAS 6.0 installs Cloudscape 5.1.60.17). Cloudscape 10.1.x is an unmodified version of the Derby product that in turn is an Apache Server Foundation (ASF) open-source project. Cloudscape 10.1.x provides new management tools and provides support for XA transactions when using the Network Server. WAS 6.1 uses Cloudscape as the default JDBC provider for WAS samples, the embedded JMS provider and the EJB timer service. Cloudscape can also be used by customer applications for development and test purposes.

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