Chapter 1. Springing into action
This chapter covers
It all started with a bean.
In 1996, the Java programming language was still a young, exciting, up-and-coming platform. Many developers flocked to the language because they’d seen how to create rich and dynamic web applications using applets. They soon learned that there was more to this strange new language than animated juggling cartoon characters. Unlike any language before it, Java made it possible to write complex applications made up of discrete parts. They came for the applets, but they stayed for the components.
In December of that year, Sun Microsystems published the JavaBeans 1.00-A specification. JavaBeans defined a software component model for Java. This specification defined a set of coding policies that enabled simple Java objects to be reusable and easily composed into more complex applications. Although JavaBeans were intended as a general-purpose means of defining reusable application components, they were primarily used as a model for building user interface widgets. They seemed too simple to be capable of any “real” work. Enterprise developers wanted more.