This document examines the architecture behind the early access version of the Adventure Builder Sample Application, which focuses on using the latest Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE™) 1.4 technologies. For recommendations and guidelines on architecting and designing enterprise applications, see Designing Enterprise Applications With the J2EE Platform, Second Edition. For recommendations and guidelines on architecting and designing Web services, see Designing Web Services with the J2EE Platform.
The Adventure Builder application will consist of four application modules: a Web customer application, and three applications for fulfilling an order. This document covers only the Web application. It illustrates how Web-only developers can benefit from the J2EE technologies and demonstrates Web tier design strategies and patterns.
One interesting point to note is that the Web customer application is a Web-only application and does not have an Enterprise JavaBeans tier (EJB™ tier). We chose a Web-centric design primarily so that we could provide guidelines for applications that do not have an EJB tier. Using the J2EE platform, a Web application can be designed in two ways: EJB-centric or Web-centric. The Java Pet Store Application illustrates how to write a Web application in an EJB-centric manner. It is an MVC-based application that makes a heavy use of local enterprise beans to implement the model and the controller. The Adventure Builder application illustrates the other option: how to write a Web application in a Web-centric manner. EJB technology is a key technology in the J2EE platform, but not all J2EE applications need to use it. A Web-only application is a valid J2EE application as well. Also note that other applications in the Adventure Builder enterprise, such as the order fulfillment application, follow an EJB-centric design and illustrate guidelines for applications using EJB technology.
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