Clients provided by WebSphere® Application
Server, and client applications that you develop, are referred to by similar
terms. The terms described in this topic should help you better understand
other client-related information.
- Application Client
- Application Client for WebSphere Application
Server is the package that you can use to install a variety of clients.
Application
Client also forms the runtime for Java™ EE
clients and Java thin clients on a system
that does not have the Application Server installed.
- client
- Provides a framework on which an application runs, so that the application
can access information on an application server. Clients are provided as part
of the Application Client for WebSphere Application
Server or as part of a WebSphere Application
Server installation.
Clients are sometimes referred to as "application
clients".
- client application
- The application program that you develop to access information on an application
server. The application is built on the framework provided by one or more
clients.
- Java EE client
- The Java Platform, Enterprise Edition
(Java EE) client is a Java EE mode of using the runtime environment of either
an Application Client installation or a WebSphere Application
Server installation. The Java EE client
uses the Client Container in the runtime environment to simplify access to
system services such as security, transactions, naming, and database access
for use by Java EE client applications.
The Java EE client is sometimes referred to
as the "Java EE application client" or "J2EE
application client".
- Java thin client
- The Java thin client is a JavaPlatform, Standard Edition (Java SE)
mode of using the runtime environment of either an Application Client installation
or a WebSphere Application Server
installation. The Java thin client runtime
environment provides the support needed by full-function Java SE
client applications for object resolution, security, Reliability Availability
and Servicability (RAS), and other services. However, the Java thin client does not support a Client Container
that provides easy access to these services.
The Java thin
client is sometimes referred to as the "Java thin
application client".
- stand-alone thin client
- Small embeddable Java SE clients
that you can use either on their own or, to provide different features, with
one or more other stand-alone thin clients. Stand-alone thin clients are provided
as embeddable JAR files, and have names such as "IBM® Thin
Client for feature"; for example, "IBM Thin Client for Java Messaging
Service (JMS)".