By Guest Blogger John Clingan
GlassFish Server 4.1 Open Source Edition is available for download! This release of the world's first Java EE 7 application server includes multiple new and valuable features and updates. Here is a quick look at what's new:
- Updated Platform Support. This release adds support for Java 8, CDI 1.2, and WebSocket 1.1. GlassFish, the world's first Java EE 7 application server, maintains leading compatibility with the latest Java EE specifications.
- Improved Developer Experience.While GlassFish 4.1 remains an open-source only release, quality and a productive developer experience remain a key focus. GlassFish Server is made up of over 20 sub-projects (like Tyrus, Jersey, Weld, EclipseLink, and more). Each of these projects adds features and bug fixes, over 1,000 in all! Thanks to those developers who participated in the GlassFish 4.1 FishCAT program to make GlassFish even better! A special shout out to Joonas Lehtinen, who found a bug that caused GlassFish to fail to boot on Mac OS X 10.10 (Yosemite)!
- New Features. Here's a list of some of the most important updates in this release.
- Tyrus (WebSocket 1.1 RI). Now supports the WebSocket 1.1 specification, which adds a couple of APIs for improved support for Lambda expressions. Tyrus adds some features above and beyond the specification, like throttling the number of open sessions, metrics exposed through JMX, client reconnect, proxy support, optimized broadcasting of a message to all open sockets, and more.
- Jersey (JAX-RS 2.0 RI). Updated with some impressive new features. Jersey brings the OAuth support originally available in Jersey 1.1, and adds a new client-side API for OAuth 1 and 2 support. Jersey has also improved diagnostics with better error reporting, exposes Jersey metrics over JMS, and per-request tracing to a log file or to the HTTP reponse header. Jersey also adds client-side server-sent event reconnect support.
- OpenMQ (JMS 2.0 RI). Open MQ adds support for communicating over WebSocket. There are two types of WebSocket clients that are supported. First, mqstomp, which adds support for any WebSocket client that supports the STOMP 1.2 protocol. Second, mqjsonstomp, which enables a (WebSocket) client to send JSON formatted messages using the STOMP 1.2 protocol.
- Java EE 7 SDK. The Java EE 7 SDK has been updated to make it more approachable overall. First, it is shipped as a zip bundle, offering a very simple installation process. The SDK also bundles GlassFish 4.1 and now supports Java 8. Last, the Java EE 7 SDK bundle includes updates to both the Java EE 7 Tutorial and Java EE 7 First Cup.
In summary, GlassFish 4.1 offers updated platform support, improved developer experience, new features and is bundled in the refreshed Java EE 7 SDK. GlassFish 4.1 can be downloaded from glassfish.org, and the Java EE 7 SDK can be downloaded from the Oracle Technology Network (OTN).