Enterprise Java Bean (EJB)

What is EJB?
• EJB is a server-side component that encapsulates
the business logic of an application.
• Business logic is the code that fulfills the purpose
of the application; In Banking application EJB
might implement the business logic in methods
called transferFund, checkingBalance.
• EJB is not for end-user, EJB is a middleware for
client application
 Benefits of EJB
• For several reasons, enterprise beans simplify
the development of large, distributed
applications. First, because the EJB container
provides system-level services to enterprise
beans, the bean developer can concentrate on
solving business problems. The EJB
containerand not the bean developeris
responsible for system-level services such as
transaction management and security
authorization.
• Second, because the beansand not the
clientscontain the application's business logic,
the client developer can focus on the
presentation of the client. The client
developer does not have to code the routines
that implement business rules or access
databases. As a result, the clients are thinner,
a benefit that is particularly important for
clients that run on small devices.
• Third, because enterprise beans are portable
components, the application assembler can
build new applications from existing beans.
These applications can run on any compliant
Java EE server provided that they use the
standard APIs
 When to Use EJB
• You should consider using enterprise beans if your
application has any of the following requirements:
– The application must be scalable. To accommodate a
growing number of users, you may need to distribute an
application's components across multiple machines.
– Transactions must ensure data integrity. Enterprise beans
support transactions, the mechanisms that manage the
concurrent access of shared objects.
– The application will have a variety of clients. With only a
few lines of code, remote clients can easily locate
enterprise beans. These clients can be thin, various, and
numerous.
 Type of EJB
• Session Bean
• Message-Driven Bean
• Entity beans have been replaced by Java
Persistence API
 What is Session Bean?
• A key difference between session bean and other bean
types is the scope of their lives. A session bean
instance is relatively short-lived object.
• Session bean instance is created when a client request
it, and ends when it finishing process the client request
• Session bean instances are not share between multiple
clients and do not represent data in database
• Session bean is used for interacting with application
client
• Session bean can implements business logic of an
application
 Session Bean Sub Types
• Stateless Session Beans
– Is a session bean that do not hold state across
client request
– When a client invokes the methods of a stateless
bean, the bean's instance variables may contain a
state specific to that client, but only for the
duration of the invocation. When the method is
finished, the client-specific state should not be
retained
• Stateful Session Bean
– Is a session bean that hold the conversation state
of a specific client with the server
– It’s like Session object (HttpSession) on web
application
– The state is retained for the duration of the client-
bean session. If the client removes the bean or
terminates, the session ends and the state
disappears.
 When to Use Session Beans
• Stateful session beans are appropriate if any
of the following conditions are true:
– The bean's state represents the interaction
between the bean and a specific client.
– The bean needs to hold information about the
client across method invocations.
• To improve performance, you might choose a
stateless session bean if it has any of these
traits:
– The bean's state has no data for a specific client.
– In a single method invocation, the bean performs
a generic task for all clients. For example, you
might use a stateless session bean to send an
email that confirms an online order, etc..
 Session Bean: Local and Remote
Interface
• To invoked a session bean, a client need to
create the session bean object through it’s
interface
• Session bean has 2 interface: local and remote
 When to use Local or Remote?
• Use Local interface if the client is in one
packaging with the ejb (.ear)
• Use Remote interface if the client is in remote
location or deploy separately with ejb (.war
and .jar)
 Session bean best practices
• Choose your bean type carefully. Stateless session
beans will be suitable most of the time. Carefully
examine whether your application needs stateful
session beans, because it comes with a price. If
the EJB client lies in the web tier, then using
HttpSession may be a better choice than stateful
session beans.
• Carefully examine interface types for session
beans. Remote interfaces involve network access
and may slow down your applications.
• Try it…
 Session Bean Pattern
• Ensures that the common services are
supported by both Remote and Local
interfaces
 ServiceInterface
businessService()
businessService()

RemoteInterface LocalInterface

BeanImplementation
• Try it..