Sun GlassFish Enterprise Server v3 Administration Guide

J2EE Naming Environment

JNDI names are bound to their objects by the naming and directory service that is provided by a J2EE server. Because J2EE components access this service through the JNDI API, the object usually uses its JNDI name. For example, the JNDI name of the PointBase database is jdbc/Pointbase. At startup, the Enterprise Server reads information from the configuration file and automatically adds JNDI database names to the name space, one of which is jdbc/Pointbase.

Java EE application clients, enterprise beans, and web components must have access to a JNDI naming environment.

The application component's naming environment is the mechanism that allows customization of the application component's business logic during deployment or assembly. This environment allows you to customize the application component without needing to access or change the source code off the component. A Java EE container implements the provides the environment to the application component instance as a JNDI naming context.