Note: For Version 3.5, enterprise beans are supported in Advanced Edition only.
An enterprise application is a combination of Java components (building blocks) that work together to perform a business function. The code components can include:
In fact, an enterprise application usually contains enterprise beans, but does not have to for the purposes of IBM WebSphere Application Server.
Although they can have the same contents, an enterprise application differs from a Web application, another type of resource in IBM WebSphere Application Server (see the Related information for details). In the context of the product, "application" refers to an enterprise application.
A programmer or team of programmers might create an enterprise application to allow users at Web browsers to query a database. The application could have the following components:
Building block | Role in application |
---|---|
HTML form | Collect user queries |
servlet | Prepare and process queries (or prepare queries for processing by an enterprise bean) |
enterprise bean | Connect to the database and extract information based on queries |
Second HTML page | Present the query results |
Alternatively, the application programmers could omit the enterprise bean and have the servlet perform the data access. Or a JSP file or two could replace the HTML files and servlet.
After an administrator installs the application files where IBM WebSphere Application Server can find them, the administrator can manage the application as a single, logical unit.
An application server, combined with a Web server, makes the application available to users at Web browsers and processes their requests for the application.