1 Understanding Enterprise JavaBeans

Java Enterprise Edition (Java EE) Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) are a component architecture that you use to develop and deploy object-oriented, distributed, enterprise-scale applications. An application written according to the EJB architecture is scalable, transactional, and secure. The component types that you can create are commonly referred to as Enterprise JavaBeans.

This chapter describes the following:

• What are Enterprise JavaBeans?

• What is a Session Bean?

• What is a JPA Entity?

• What is an EJB 2.1 Entity Bean?

• What is a Message-Driven Bean?

• Which Type of Enterprise Bean Should You Use?