Security enhancements in the application server include support for SAML 1.0 and 2.0, advanced single sign-on and tools for securely managing Web services and SOAs, Oracle said.

Grid computing features in the release include dynamic workload management, enhanced clustering and automated backup, recovery, and disaster recovery. A JMX (Java Management Extensions) console is offered for grid support.

Oracle refers to its application server architecture as "hot-pluggable" because it enables mixing and matching of Oracle middleware with existing infrastructures.

Oracle Application Server 10g Release 3 is certified to work with a variety of open source development frameworks, including Eclipse, Spring, Hibernate and Tapestry. Other open source projects that can be utilized with the application server include the MyFaces implementation of JavaServer Faces (JSF), the CVS (Concurrent Versions System) version control system and the JUnit testing tool.

In conjunction with the application server, Oracle is upgrading its JDeveloper tool and the Oracle Application Developer Framework with features such as easier code refactoring, support for Java 5.0 and J2EE 1.4, and a visual JSF and Struts development environment. EJB 3.0 also is supported.