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OSGi, JCP Tussle Over Component Support in Java


Critics decry effort as a rubber-stamp move

By Alex Handy
March 1, 2007 — 
The technology already works; it’s undergone four major revisions, in fact. So why is Sun Microsystems upset about JSR 291’s progress on the road to ratification? Because, the JSR’s detractors claim, the work done on the proposal for Dynamic Component Support for Java SE was performed outside of the JCP.

Jim Colson is chief architect at IBM client software, and he’s been integral to the progress of JSR 291 since its creation in February 2006. He described JSR 291 as an effort “to define how OSGi [the model for an in-virtual-memory SOA for networked systems] as a component model will work in the context of Java SE.”

Specifically, Colson said, the OSGi Alliance has solved a problem that’s plagued Java for years, and now the alliance is seeking JCP validation of its solution.

“In Java today,” said Colson, “it’s sort of a one-application environment. You start a JVM, and you run an application with it, then you tear down the JVM. What OSGi does is enable you to run multiple services on top of the same JVM at the same time, each with independent life cycles. There is a strict model for import and export, with a well-defined versioning system for those components. If ‘A’ depends on ‘B’ and ‘C’ is independent, I can run those all on the same JVM. I can manage their life cycles independently. I can update ‘C’ without disrupting ‘A’ and ‘B.’ I can also disrupt the ‘B’ element without disrupting ‘A.’”

‘NOT A BAD SPEC’
But Hani Suleiman, CTO of financial technology solutions provider Formicary and a member of the executive committee that voted on JSR 291’s public review in January, said that the work OSGi has done doesn’t need to be validated by the JCP.

“It’s not that it’s a bad specification,” said Suleiman, who, along with Sun, voted against the continuation of JSR 291. “I don’t think that the JCP should be used to get a JSR number. I don’t see the benefit.” Despite these two nay votes, the specification passed its public review and continues on its way to final ratification.

Colson said the benefits of running OSGi’s component model through the JCP are obvious: More eyes mean more input. While Suleiman’s objections were based around the specification’s lack of work within the JCP, Colson said the JCP’s review of OSGi’s work will result in some changes to the overall project.

“OSGi is now on release 4,” said Colson. “With the [successful completion] of JSR 291, there will be a 4.1 release.” That release, he said, will incorporate the suggestions and input offered by members of the JCP.

Colson pointed to JSR 232, a completed specification that brought OSGi’s work onto the Java ME platform. That spec, said Colson, was created through a combination of work inside and outside of the JCP, in a manner similar to that of JSR 291.

Said Mike Milinkovich, executive director of the Eclipse Foundation: “We’re going to start seeing Eclipse technology show up in runtimes in the Java ME space. I think OSGi is the first component [model] that started in the ME space and has grown rapidly into the enterprise.” The Eclipse runtime is largely based on OSGi’s work.

But for Suleiman and Sun, the words of IBM and other OSGi members have not assuaged their fears that JSR 291 risks pushing the JCP closer to becoming a validation organization, like Ecma or OASIS.

“I was told that this is in fact a rubber-stamping effort and that the OSGi spec will not change,” said Suleiman.


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