Java Data Objects (JDO) 2.0, a specification for Java object persistence that has been controversial of late, is to be offered under Apache open source licensing, said a Sun Microsystems Inc. architect at the TheServerSide Java Symposium event on Friday.
The more liberal Apache licensing will allow users to do what they wish with the technology, said Sun architect Craig Russell. Version 1.0 of JDO had been offered under the more-restrictive Sun Community Source License, Russell said.
JDO 2.0 features improvements in areas such as query functionality.
JDO was recently the subject of a petition drive after an initial vote within the JCP (Java Community Process) rejected the specification. A new vote announced this week approved a public draft. But JDO 2.0 still must be subjected to a four- to eight-month final approval process by the JCP Executive Committee, Russell said.
The EJB 3.0 specification is expected to supersede JDO as a method of Java persistence, although Russell noted users can still deploy JDO.
"JDO will live on as an Apache project, no question about it," Russell said.
"The future evolution of JDO will depend on the needs of the Java community," Russell added.
The petition drive last month in support of JDO 2.0 drew more than 1,000 signatures after the JCP"s initial tally on approval fell short, 10 votes to five. JCP member JBoss Inc., in voting no, said JDO 2.0 constituted more than a maintenance release and would cause confusion with EJB 3.0.
Also at the TheServerSide event, an Oracle executive said the company plans to upgrade its portal-development technology by adding the ability to do portal development via the company"s JDeveloper development tool. Currently, development is browser-based.
"(The improvements) will allow a more rich design time because you can do more in a desktop tool (like JDeveloper) than a browser," said the official, Ted Farrell, chief architect for the Application Development Tools Division at Oracle.
The new functionality is enabled via support of JavaServer Faces technology for building Java-based Web applications.