Core Java

1
CORE JAVA 8
COLLECTIONS 8
JDBC 16
JDBC INTRODUCTION.................................................................................... 17
JDBC PRODUCT COMPONENTS.............................................................................. 17
JDBC ARCHITECTURE....................................................................................... 19
A RELATIONAL DATABASE OVERVIEW........................................................................ 20
DEPLOYMENT 36
THREADS 37
REFLECTION 37
USES OF REFLECTION........................................................................................ 37
DRAWBACKS OF REFLECTION................................................................................. 37
TRAIL LESSONS.............................................................................................. 38
SECURITY 42
RMI 43
ADVANTAGES OF DYNAMIC CODE LOADING.................................................................. 44

REMOTE INTERFACES, OBJECTS, AND METHODS............................................................. 45
CREATING DISTRIBUTED APPLICATIONS BY USING RMI..................................................... 45
DESIGNING AND IMPLEMENTING THE APPLICATION COMPONENTS............................................. 45
COMPILING SOURCES........................................................................................ 46
MAKING CLASSES NETWORK ACCESSIBLE....................................................................46
STARTING THE APPLICATION................................................................................. 46
BUILDING A GENERIC COMPUTE ENGINE..................................................................... 46
DECLARING THE REMOTE INTERFACES BEING IMPLEMENTED.................................................. 50
DEFINING THE CONSTRUCTOR FOR THE REMOTE OBJECT.....................................................51
PROVIDING IMPLEMENTATIONS FOR EACH REMOTE METHOD................................................. 51
PASSING OBJECTS IN RMI.................................................................................. 51
IMPLEMENTING THE SERVER'S MAIN METHOD................................................................ 52
CREATING AND INSTALLING A SECURITY MANAGER.......................................................... 52
MAKING THE REMOTE OBJECT AVAILABLE TO CLIENTS...................................................... 53
2
BUILDING A JAR FILE OF INTERFACE CLASSES............................................................. 60

BUILDING THE SERVER CLASSES............................................................................. 61
BUILDING THE CLIENT CLASSES............................................................................. 61
A NOTE ABOUT SECURITY................................................................................... 62
STARTING THE SERVER.......................................................................................63
STARTING THE CLIENT....................................................................................... 64
SWINGS 66
TOP-LEVEL CONTAINERS AND CONTAINMENT HIERARCHIES.................................................. 70

ADDING COMPONENTS TO THE CONTENT PANE.............................................................. 70
ADDING A MENU BAR....................................................................................... 71
THE ROOT PANE............................................................................................. 71
JAAS 72
INTERNATIONALIZATION 72
1. CREATE THE PROPERTIES FILES.......................................................................... 74

2. DEFINE THE LOCALE...................................................................................... 75
3. CREATE A RESOURCEBUNDLE.............................................................................75
4. FETCH THE TEXT FROM THE RESOURCEBUNDLE...........................................................76
CONCLUSION................................................................................................. 76
JUNIT 76
JNDI 76
NAMING CONCEPTS.......................................................................................... 77
DIRECTORY PACKAGE.........................................................................................83
LDAP PACKAGE............................................................................................. 84
EVENT PACKAGE............................................................................................. 85
SERVICE PROVIDER PACKAGE................................................................................ 85
J2EE 87
SERVLETS 87
JSP 87
EJB 87
3
STRUTS 87
JMS 87
HIBERNATE 87
SAX 87
DOM 87
DESIGN PATTERNS 87
SESSION FAÇADE 87
FRONT CONTROLLER 87
DAO 87
CHAIN OF RESPONSIBILITIES 87
COMPOSITION 87
AGGREGATION 87
ABSTRACT FACTORY 87
FACTORY METHOD 87
BRIDGE 87
SINGLETON 87
BUILDER 87
ITERATE 87
OBSERVER 87
STATE 87
4
STRATEGY 87
VISITOR 87
FLYWEIGHT 87
PROXY 88
ROUTER 88
TRANSLATION 88
WEB SERVICES 88
SOAP 88
UDDI 88
WSDL 88
APACHE AXIS 88
XML TECHNOLOGIES 88
XML 88
DDL 88
XSL 88
LINK 88
PATH 88
XQUERY 88
DATABASE 88
ORACLE 9I(SQLPL/SQL) 88
5
DB2 88
APPLICATION SERVERS 88
WEBSPHERE APPLICATION SERVER 6.1 88
WEBLOGIC 9.1 88
JBOSS 4.1.2 88
APACHE TOMCAT5.5 88
UML TOOLS 88
RATIONAL UML MODELING TOOL 88
WEB DESIGN 88
HTML 88
JAVA SCRIPT 89
CSS 89
AJAX 89
METHODOLOGIES 89
OOAD 89
OODB 89
SAD 89
TOOLS 89
ECLISPE3.2 89
ANT 89
6
MAVEN 89
BATCH SCRIPT 89
SHELL SCRIPT 89
STRATEGIES 89
REQUIREMENT/REQUEST ANALYSIS 89
DEPLOYMENT AND CONFIGURATION 89
PERFORMANCE TUNING AND REVIEW. 89
CONFIGURATION TOOLS 89
RATIONAL CLEAR CASE 89
OPERATING SYSTEMS 89
WINDOWS 89
UNIX 89
SUB TOPICS 89
EXTENSION MECHANISM 89
CONTENTS.................................................................................................. 91
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................. 91
THE EXTENSION MECHANISM............................................................................. 92
ARCHITECTURE............................................................................................... 92
OPTIONAL PACKAGE DEPLOYMENT............................................................................ 93
BUNDLED OPTIONAL PACKAGES.............................................................................. 93
INSTALLED OPTIONAL PACKAGES............................................................................. 94
OPTIONAL PACKAGE SEALING............................................................................ 95
OPTIONAL PACKAGE SECURITY........................................................................... 96
RELATED APIS............................................................................................ 96
GENERIC 97
7
JMX 101
INSTRUMENTATION.......................................................................................... 103
JMX AGENT............................................................................................... 104
REMOTE MANAGEMENT..................................................................................... 104
SECURITY 106
JAVA™ SECURITY OVERVIEW 106
1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................ 106
2 JAVA LANGUAGE SECURITY AND BYTECODE VERIFICATION........................................ 107
3 BASIC SECURITY ARCHITECTURE.................................................................... 108
SECURITY PROVIDERS...................................................................................... 108
FILE LOCATIONS............................................................................................110
4 CRYPTOGRAPHY........................................................................................ 110
5 PUBLIC KEY INFRASTRUCTURE....................................................................... 111
KEY AND CERTIFICATE STORAGE........................................................................... 111
PKI TOOLS................................................................................................ 112
6 AUTHENTICATION...................................................................................... 112
7 SECURE COMMUNICATION............................................................................ 113
SSL/TLS................................................................................................. 114
SASL.................................................................................................... 114
GSS-API AND KERBEROS................................................................................ 115
8 ACCESS CONTROL..................................................................................... 115
PERMISSIONS............................................................................................... 115
POLICY..................................................................................................... 116
ACCESS CONTROL ENFORCEMENT...........................................................................116
9 FOR MORE INFORMATION ........................................................................... 117
APPENDIX A CLASSES SUMMARY....................................................................... 118
APPENDIX B TOOLS SUMMARY......................................................................... 120
APPENDIX C BUILT-IN PROVIDERS.................................................................... 120
JAVA ™ CRYPTOGRAPHY ARCHITECTURE

SUN PROVIDERS DOCUMENTATION 121
FOR JAVATM PLATFORM STANDARD EDITION 6..................................................... 121
INTRODUCTION 121
THE SUNPKCS11 PROVIDER 122

8
THE SUN PROVIDER 122
KEYSIZE RESTRICTIONS ................................................................................ 123

CERTIFICATEFACTORY/CERTPATHBUILDER/ CERTPATHVALIDATOR/CERTSTORE IMPLEMENTATIONS
............................................................................................................ 124
THE SUNRSASIGN PROVIDER 124
THE SUNJSSE PROVIDER 125
THE SUNJCE PROVIDER 128
THE SUNJGSS PROVIDER 133
THE SUNSASL PROVIDER 133
THE XMLDSIG PROVIDER 134
THE SUNPCSC PROVIDER 134
THE SUNMSCAPI PROVIDER 135
Core Java
Collections
Sources:
http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/collections/interfaces/collection.html
Lesson: Introduction to Collections
A collection — sometimes called a container — is simply an object that groups

multiple elements into a single unit. Collections are used to store, retrieve,
manipulate, and communicate aggregate data. Typically, they represent data
9
items that form a natural group, such as a poker hand (a collection of cards), a
mail folder (a collection of letters), or a telephone directory (a mapping of names
to phone numbers).
If you've used the Java programming language — or just about any other
programming language — you're already familiar with collections. Collection
implementations in earlier (pre-1.2) versions of the Java platform included
Vector, Hashtable, and array. However, those earlier versions did not contain a
collections framework.
What Is a Collections Framework?
A collections framework is a unified architecture for representing and

manipulating collections. All collections frameworks contain the following:
* Interfaces: These are abstract data types that represent collections.

Interfaces allow collections to be manipulated independently of the details of their
representation. In object-oriented languages, interfaces generally form a
hierarchy.
* Implementations: These are the concrete implementations of the
collection interfaces. In essence, they are reusable data structures.
* Algorithms: These are the methods that perform useful computations,
such as searching and sorting, on objects that implement collection interfaces.
The algorithms are said to be polymorphic: that is, the same method can be used
on many different implementations of the appropriate collection interface. In
essence, algorithms are reusable functionality.
Apart from the Java Collections Framework, the best-known examples of

collections frameworks are the C++ Standard Template Library (STL) and
Smalltalk's collection hierarchy. Historically, collections frameworks have been
quite complex, which gave them a reputation for having a steep learning curve.
We believe that the Java Collections Framework breaks with this tradition, as you
will learn for yourself in this chapter.
Benefits of the Java Collections Framework
The Java Collections Framework provides the following benefits:
* Reduces programming effort: By providing useful data structures and

algorithms, the Collections Framework frees you to concentrate on the important
parts of your program rather than on the low-level "plumbing" required to make
it work. By facilitating interoperability among unrelated APIs, the Java Collections
Framework frees you from writing adapter objects or conversion code to connect
APIs.
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* Increases program speed and quality: This Collections Framework

provides high-performance, high-quality implementations of useful data
structures and algorithms. The various implementations of each interface are
interchangeable, so programs can be easily tuned by switching collection
implementations. Because you're freed from the drudgery of writing your own
data structures, you'll have more time to devote to improving programs' quality
and performance.
* Allows interoperability among unrelated APIs: The collection interfaces are
the vernacular by which APIs pass collections back and forth. If my network
administration API furnishes a collection of node names and if your GUI toolkit
expects a collection of column headings, our APIs will interoperate seamlessly,
even though they were written independently.
* Reduces effort to learn and to use new APIs: Many APIs naturally take
collections on input and furnish them as output. In the past, each such API had a
small sub-API devoted to manipulating its collections. There was little consistency
among these ad hoc collections sub-APIs, so you had to learn each one from
scratch, and it was easy to make mistakes when using them. With the advent of
standard collection interfaces, the problem went away.
* Reduces effort to design new APIs: This is the flip side of the previous
advantage. Designers and implementers don't have to reinvent the wheel each
time they create an API that relies on collections; instead, they can use standard
collection interfaces.
* Fosters software reuse: New data structures that conform to the standard
collection interfaces are by nature reusable. The same goes for new algorithms
that operate on objects that implement these interfaces.
Lesson: Interfaces
The core collection interfaces encapsulate different types of collections, which

are shown in the figure below. These interfaces allow collections to be
manipulated independently of the details of their representation. Core collection
interfaces are the foundation of the Java Collections Framework. As you can see
in the following figure, the core collection interfaces form a hierarchy.
Two interface trees, one starting with Collection and including Set, SortedSet,
List, and Queue, and the other starting with Map and including SortedMap.
The core collection interfaces.

A Set is a special kind of Collection, a SortedSet is a special kind of Set, and so
forth. Note also that the hierarchy consists of two distinct trees — a Map is not a
true Collection.
Note that all the core collection interfaces are generic. For example, this is the
declaration of the Collection interface.
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public interface Collection<E>...
The <E> syntax tells you that the interface is generic. When you declare a
Collection instance you can and should specify the type of object contained in the
collection. Specifying the type allows the compiler to verify (at compile-time) that
the type of object you put into the collection is correct, thus reducing errors at
runtime. For information on generic types, see the Generics lesson.
When you understand how to use these interfaces, you will know most of what
there is to know about the Java Collections Framework. This chapter discusses
general guidelines for effective use of the interfaces, including when to use which
interface. You'll also learn programming idioms for each interface to help you get
the most out of it.
To keep the number of core collection interfaces manageable, the Java

platform doesn't provide separate interfaces for each variant of each collection
type. (Such variants might include immutable, fixed-size, and append-only.)
Instead, the modification operations in each interface are designated optional —
a given implementation may elect not to support all operations. If an
unsupported operation is invoked, a collection throws an
UnsupportedOperationException. Implementations are responsible for
documenting which of the optional operations they support. All of the Java
platform's general-purpose implementations support all of the optional
operations.
The following list describes the core collection interfaces:
* Collection — the root of the collection hierarchy. A collection represents a

group of objects known as its elements. The Collection interface is the least
common denominator that all collections implement and is used to pass
collections around and to manipulate them when maximum generality is desired.
Some types of collections allow duplicate elements, and others do not. Some are
ordered and others are unordered. The Java platform doesn't provide any direct
implementations of this interface but provides implementations of more specific
subinterfaces, such as Set and List. Also see The Collection Interface section.
* Set — a collection that cannot contain duplicate elements. This interface

models the mathematical set abstraction and is used to represent sets, such as
the cards comprising a poker hand, the courses making up a student's schedule,
or the processes running on a machine. See also The Set Interface section.
* List — an ordered collection (sometimes called a sequence). Lists can

contain duplicate elements. The user of a List generally has precise control over
12
where in the list each element is inserted and can access elements by their
integer index (position). If you've used Vector, you're familiar with the general
flavor of List. Also see The List Interface section.
* Queue — a collection used to hold multiple elements prior to processing.

Besides basic Collection operations, a Queue provides additional insertion,
extraction, and inspection operations.
Queues typically, but do not necessarily, order elements in a FIFO (first-in,

first-out) manner. Among the exceptions are priority queues, which order
elements according to a supplied comparator or the elements' natural ordering.
Whatever the ordering used, the head of the queue is the element that would be
removed by a call to remove or poll. In a FIFO queue, all new elements are
inserted at the tail of the queue. Other kinds of queues may use different
placement rules. Every Queue implementation must specify its ordering
properties. Also see The Queue Interface section.
* Map — an object that maps keys to values. A Map cannot contain

duplicate keys; each key can map to at most one value. If you've used
Hashtable, you're already familiar with the basics of Map. Also see The Map
Interface section.
The last two core collection interfaces are merely sorted versions of Set and
Map:
* SortedSet — a Set that maintains its elements in ascending order. Several

additional operations are provided to take advantage of the ordering. Sorted sets
are used for naturally ordered sets, such as word lists and membership rolls. Also
see The SortedSet Interface section.
* SortedMap — a Map that maintains its mappings in ascending key order.

This is the Map analog of SortedSet. Sorted maps are used for naturally ordered
collections of key/value pairs, such as dictionaries and telephone directories. Also
see The SortedMap Interface section.
To understand how the sorted interfaces maintain the order of their elements,
see the Object Ordering section.
The Collection Interface
A Collection represents a group of objects known as its elements. The

Collection interface is used to pass around collections of objects where maximum
generality is desired. For example, by convention all general-purpose collection
implementations have a constructor that takes a Collection argument. This
13
constructor, known as a conversion constructor, initializes the new collection to

contain all of the elements in the specified collection, whatever the given
collection's subinterface or implementation type. In other words, it allows you to
convert the collection's type.
Suppose, for example, that you have a Collection<String> c, which may be a

List, a Set, or another kind of Collection. This idiom creates a new ArrayList (an
implementation of the List interface), initially containing all the elements in c.
List<String> list = new ArrayList<String>(c);
The following shows the Collection interface.
public interface Collection<E> extends Iterable<E> {

// Basic operations
int size();
boolean isEmpty();
boolean contains(Object element);
boolean add(E element); //optional
boolean remove(Object element); //optional
Iterator<E> iterator();
// Bulk operations
boolean containsAll(Collection<?> c);
boolean addAll(Collection<? extends E> c); //optional
boolean removeAll(Collection<?> c); //optional
boolean retainAll(Collection<?> c); //optional
void clear(); //optional
// Array operations
Object[] toArray();
<T> T[] toArray(T[] a);
}
The interface does about what you'd expect given that a Collection represents
a group of objects. The interface has methods to tell you how many elements are
in the collection (size, isEmpty), to check whether a given object is in the
collection (contains), to add and remove an element from the collection (add,
remove), and to provide an iterator over the collection (iterator).
The add method is defined generally enough so that it makes sense for
collections that allow duplicates as well as those that don't. It guarantees that the
Collection will contain the specified element after the call completes, and returns
true if the Collection changes as a result of the call. Similarly, the remove method
14
is designed to remove a single instance of the specified element from the

Collection, assuming that it contains the element to start with, and to return true
if the Collection was modified as a result.
Traversing Collections
There are two ways to traverse collections: (1) with the for-each construct and
(2) by using Iterators.
for-each Construct
The for-each construct allows you to concisely traverse a collection or array
using a for loop — see The for Statement. The following code uses the for-each
construct to print out each element of a collection on a separate line.
for (Object o : collection)

System.out.println(o);
Iterators
An Iterator is an object that enables you to traverse through a collection and
to remove elements from the collection selectively, if desired. You get an Iterator
for a collection by calling its iterator method. The following is the Iterator
interface.
public interface Iterator<E> {

boolean hasNext();
E next();
void remove(); //optional
}
The hasNext method returns true if the iteration has more elements, and the
next method returns the next element in the iteration. The remove method
removes the last element that was returned by next from the underlying
Collection. The remove method may be called only once per call to next and
throws an exception if this rule is violated.
Note that Iterator.remove is the only safe way to modify a collection during
iteration; the behavior is unspecified if the underlying collection is modified in any
other way while the iteration is in progress.
Use Iterator instead of the for-each construct when you need to:
* Remove the current element. The for-each construct hides the iterator, so
you cannot call remove. Therefore, the for-each construct is not usable for
filtering.
* Iterate over multiple collections in parallel.
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The following method shows you how to use an Iterator to filter an arbitrary
Collection — that is, traverse the collection removing specific elements.
static void filter(Collection<?> c) {

for (Iterator<?> it = c.iterator(); it.hasNext(); )
if (!cond(it.next()))
it.remove();
}
This simple piece of code is polymorphic, which means that it works for any
Collection regardless of implementation. This example demonstrates how easy it
is to write a polymorphic algorithm using the Java Collections Framework.
Collection Interface Bulk Operations
Bulk operations perform an operation on an entire Collection. You could

implement these shorthand operations using the basic operations, though in most
cases such implementations would be less efficient. The following are the bulk
operations:
* containsAll — returns true if the target Collection contains all of the

elements in the specified Collection.
* addAll — adds all of the elements in the specified Collection to the target
Collection.
* removeAll — removes from the target Collection all of its elements that
are also contained in the specified Collection.
* retainAll — removes from the target Collection all its elements that are
not also contained in the specified Collection. That is, it retains only those
elements in the target Collection that are also contained in the specified
Collection.
* clear — removes all elements from the Collection.
The addAll, removeAll, and retainAll methods all return true if the target
Collection was modified in the process of executing the operation.
As a simple example of the power of bulk operations, consider the following

idiom to remove all instances of a specified element, e, from a Collection, c.
c.removeAll(Collections.singleton(e));
More specifically, suppose you want to remove all of the null elements from a
Collection.
16
c.removeAll(Collections.singleton(null));
This idiom uses Collections.singleton, which is a static factory method that

returns an immutable Set containing only the specified element.
Collection Interface Array Operations
The toArray methods are provided as a bridge between collections and older
APIs that expect arrays on input. The array operations allow the contents of a
Collection to be translated into an array. The simple form with no arguments
creates a new array of Object. The more complex form allows the caller to
provide an array or to choose the runtime type of the output array.
For example, suppose that c is a Collection. The following snippet dumps the
contents of c into a newly allocated array of Object whose length is identical to
the number of elements in c.
Object[] a = c.toArray();
Suppose that c is known to contain only strings (perhaps because c is of type

Collection<String>). The following snippet dumps the contents of c into a newly
allocated array of String whose length is identical to the number of elements in c.
String[] a = c.toArray(new String[0]);
JDBC
Introduces an API for connectivity between the Java applications and a wide
range of databases and a data sources.
JDBC(TM) Database Access
The JDBC™ API was designed to keep simple things simple. This means that the JDBC
makes everyday database tasks easy. This trail walks you through examples of using JDBC
to execute common SQL statements, and perform other objectives common to database
applications.
This trail is divided into these lessons:
JDBC Introduction Lists JDBC features, describes JDBC Architecture and reviews SQL
commands and Relational Database concepts.
JDBC Basics covers the JDBC API, which is included in the Java™ SE 6 release.
By the end of the first lesson, you will know how to use the basic JDBC API to create tables,
insert values into them, query the tables, retrieve the results of the queries, and update the
17
tables. In this process, you will learn how to use simple statements and prepared statements,
and you will see an example of a stored procedure. You will also learn how to perform
transactions and how to catch exceptions and warnings.
JDBC Introduction
The JDBC API is a Java API that can access any kind of tabular data, especially data stored
in a Relational Database.
JDBC helps you to write java applications that manage these three programming activities:
1. Connect to a data source, like a database

2. Send queries and update statements to the database
3. Retrieve and process the results received from the database in answer to
your query
The following simple code fragment gives a simple example of these three
steps:
4. Connection con = DriverManager.getConnection
5. ( "jdbc:myDriver:wombat", "myLogin","myPassword");
6.
7. Statement stmt = con.createStatement();
8. ResultSet rs = stmt.executeQuery("SELECT a, b, c FROM Table1");
9. while (rs.next()) {
10. int x = rs.getInt("a");
11. String s = rs.getString("b");
12. float f = rs.getFloat("c");
13. }
This short code fragment instantiates a DriverManager object to connect to a

database driver and log into the database, instantiates a Statement object
that carries your SQL language query to the database; instantiates a
ResultSet object that retrieves the results of your query, and executes a
simple while loop, which retrieves and displays those results. It's that
simple.
JDBC Product Components
JDBC includes four components:
1. The JDBC API —
The JDBC™ API provides programmatic access to relational data from the
Java™ programming language. Using the JDBC API, applications can
execute SQL statements, retrieve results, and propagate changes back to
18
an underlying data source. The JDBC API can also interact with multiple
data sources in a distributed, heterogeneous environment.
The JDBC API is part of the Java platform, which includes the Java™
Standard Edition (Java™ SE ) and the Java™ Enterprise Edition (Java™ EE).
The JDBC 4.0 API is divided into two packages: java.sql and javax.sql.
Both packages are included in the Java SE and Java EE platforms.
2. JDBC Driver Manager —
The JDBC DriverManager class defines objects which can connect Java
applications to a JDBC driver. DriverManager has traditionally been the
backbone of the JDBC architecture. It is quite small and simple.
The Standard Extension packages javax.naming and javax.sql let you use a
DataSource object registered with a Java Naming and Directory Interface™
(JNDI) naming service to establish a connection with a data source. You
can use either connecting mechanism, but using a DataSource object is
recommended whenever possible.
3. JDBC Test Suite —
The JDBC driver test suite helps you to determine that JDBC drivers will run
your program. These tests are not comprehensive or exhaustive, but they
do exercise many of the important features in the JDBC API.
4. JDBC-ODBC Bridge —
The Java Software bridge provides JDBC access via ODBC drivers. Note that
you need to load ODBC binary code onto each client machine that uses this
driver. As a result, the ODBC driver is most appropriate on a corporate
network where client installations are not a major problem, or for
application server code written in Java in a three-tier architecture.
This Trail uses the first two of these these four JDBC components to connect to a database
and then build a java program that uses SQL commands to communicate with a test
19
Relational Database. The last two components are used in specialized environments to test
web applications, or to communicate with ODBC-aware DBMSs.
JDBC Architecture
Two-tier and Three-tier Processing Models
The JDBC API supports both two-tier and three-tier processing models for database access.
Figure 1: Two-tier Architecture for Data Access.
In the two-tier model, a Java applet or application talks directly to the data source. This
requires a JDBC driver that can communicate with the particular data source being accessed.
A user's commands are delivered to the database or other data source, and the results of
those statements are sent back to the user. The data source may be located on another
machine to which the user is connected via a network. This is referred to as a client/server
configuration, with the user's machine as the client, and the machine housing the data source
as the server. The network can be an intranet, which, for example, connects employees
within a corporation, or it can be the Internet.
In the three-tier model, commands are sent to a "middle tier" of services, which then sends
the commands to the data source. The data source processes the commands and sends the
results back to the middle tier, which then sends them to the user. MIS directors find the
three-tier model very attractive because the middle tier makes it possible to maintain control
over access and the kinds of updates that can be made to corporate data. Another advantage
is that it simplifies the deployment of applications. Finally, in many cases, the three-tier
architecture can provide performance advantages.
Figure 2: Three-tier Architecture for Data Access.

20
Until recently, the middle tier has often been written in languages such as C or C++, which
offer fast performance. However, with the introduction of optimizing compilers that translate
Java bytecode into efficient machine-specific code and technologies such as Enterprise
JavaBeans™, the Java platform is fast becoming the standard platform for middle-tier
development. This is a big plus, making it possible to take advantage of Java's robustness,
multithreading, and security features.
With enterprises increasingly using the Java programming language for writing server code,
the JDBC API is being used more and more in the middle tier of a three-tier architecture.
Some of the features that make JDBC a server technology are its support for connection
pooling, distributed transactions, and disconnected rowsets. The JDBC API is also what
allows access to a data source from a Java middle tier.
A Relational Database Overview
A database is a means of storing information in such a way that information can be retrieved
from it. In simplest terms, a relational database is one that presents information in tables with
rows and columns. A table is referred to as a relation in the sense that it is a collection of
objects of the same type (rows). Data in a table can be related according to common keys or
concepts, and the ability to retrieve related data from a table is the basis for the term
relational database. A Database Management System (DBMS) handles the way data is
stored, maintained, and retrieved. In the case of a relational database, a Relational Database
Management System (RDBMS) performs these tasks. DBMS as used in this book is a
general term that includes RDBMS.
Integrity Rules
Relational tables follow certain integrity rules to ensure that the data they contain stay
accurate and are always accessible. First, the rows in a relational table should all be distinct.
If there are duplicate rows, there can be problems resolving which of two possible selections
is the correct one. For most DBMSs, the user can specify that duplicate rows are not allowed,
and if that is done, the DBMS will prevent the addition of any rows that duplicate an existing
row.
21
A second integrity rule of the traditional relational model is that column values must not be
repeating groups or arrays. A third aspect of data integrity involves the concept of a null
value. A database takes care of situations where data may not be available by using a null
value to indicate that a value is missing. It does not equate to a blank or zero. A blank is
considered equal to another blank, a zero is equal to another zero, but two null values are not
considered equal.
When each row in a table is different, it is possible to use one or more columns to identify a
particular row. This unique column or group of columns is called a primary key. Any column
that is part of a primary key cannot be null; if it were, the primary key containing it would no
longer be a complete identifier. This rule is referred to as entity integrity.
Table 1.2 illustrates some of these relational database concepts. It has five columns and six
rows, with each row representing a different employee.
Table 1.2: Employees
Employee_Number First_name Last_Name Date_of_Birth Car_Number

10001 Axel Washington 28-Aug-43 5
10083 Arvid Sharma 24-Nov-54 null
10120 Jonas Ginsberg 01-Jan-69 null
10005 Florence Wojokowski 04-Jul-71 12
10099 Sean Washington 21-Sep-66 null
10035 Elizabeth Yamaguchi 24-Dec-59 null
The primary key for this table would generally be the employee number because each one is
guaranteed to be different. (A number is also more efficient than a string for making
comparisons.) It would also be possible to use First_Name and Last_Name because the
combination of the two also identifies just one row in our sample database. Using the last
name alone would not work because there are two employees with the last name of
"Washington." In this particular case the first names are all different, so one could
conceivably use that column as a primary key, but it is best to avoid using a column where
duplicates could occur. If Elizabeth Taylor gets a job at this company and the primary key is
First_Name, the RDBMS will not allow her name to be added (if it has been specified that no
duplicates are permitted). Because there is already an Elizabeth in the table, adding a
second one would make the primary key useless as a way of identifying just one row. Note
that although using First_Name and Last_Name is a unique composite key for this example,
it might not be unique in a larger database. Note also that Table 1.2 assumes that there can
be only one car per employee.
22
SELECT Statements
SQL is a language designed to be used with relational databases. There is a set of basic
SQL commands that is considered standard and is used by all RDBMSs. For example, all
RDBMSs use the SELECT statement.
A SELECT statement, also called a query, is used to get information from a table. It specifies
one or more column headings, one or more tables from which to select, and some criteria for
selection. The RDBMS returns rows of the column entries that satisfy the stated
requirements. A SELECT statement such as the following will fetch the first and last names of
employees who have company cars:
SELECT First_Name, Last_Name

FROM Employees
WHERE Car_Number IS NOT NULL
The result set (the set of rows that satisfy the requirement of not having null in the
Car_Number column) follows. The first name and last name are printed for each row that
satisfies the requirement because the SELECT statement (the first line) specifies the columns
First_Name and Last_Name. The FROM clause (the second line) gives the table from which
the columns will be selected.
FIRST_NAME LAST_NAME
---------- -----------
Axel Washington
Florence Wojokowski
The following code produces a result set that includes the whole table because it asks for all
of the columns in the table Employees with no restrictions (no WHERE clause). Note that SELECT
* means "SELECT all columns."
SELECT *
FROM Employees
WHERE Clauses
The WHERE clause in a SELECT statement provides the criteria for selecting values. For
example, in the following code fragment, values will be selected only if they occur in a row in
which the column Last_Name begins with the string 'Washington'.

FROM Employees
WHERE Last_Name LIKE 'Washington%'
The keyword LIKE is used to compare strings, and it offers the feature that patterns
containing wildcards can be used. For example, in the code fragment above, there is a
percent sign (%) at the end of 'Washington', which signifies that any value containing the
string 'Washington' plus zero or more additional characters will satisfy this selection criterion.
23
So 'Washington' or 'Washingtonian' would be matches, but 'Washing' would not be. The other
wildcard used in LIKE clauses is an underbar (_), which stands for any one character. For
example,
WHERE Last_Name LIKE 'Ba_man'
would match 'Batman', 'Barman', 'Badman', 'Balman', 'Bagman', 'Bamman', and so on.
The code fragment below has a WHERE clause that uses the equal sign (=) to compare
numbers. It selects the first and last name of the employee who is assigned car 12.

FROM Employees
WHERE Car_Number = 12
The next code fragment selects the first and last names of employees whose employee
number is greater than 10005:

FROM Employees
WHERE Employee_Number > 10005
WHERE clauses can get rather elaborate, with multiple conditions and, in some DBMSs, nested
conditions. This overview will not cover complicated WHERE clauses, but the following code
fragment has a WHERE clause with two conditions; this query selects the first and last names of
employees whose employee number is less than 10100 and who do not have a company car.

FROM Employees
WHERE Employee_Number < 10100 and Car_Number IS NULL
A special type of WHERE clause involves a join, which is explained in the next section.
Joins
A distinguishing feature of relational databases is that it is possible to get data from more
than one table in what is called a join. Suppose that after retrieving the names of employees
who have company cars, one wanted to find out who has which car, including the make,
model, and year of car. This information is stored in another table, Cars, shown in Table 1.3.
Table 1.3. Cars
Car Number Make Model Year

5 Honda Civic DX 1996
12 Toyota Corolla 1999
24
There must be one column that appears in both tables in order to relate them to each other.
This column, which must be the primary key in one table, is called the foreign key in the other
table. In this case, the column that appears in two tables is Car_Number, which is the primary
key for the table Cars and the foreign key in the table Employees. If the 1996 Honda Civic
were wrecked and deleted from the Cars table, then Car_Number 5 would also have to be
removed from the Employees table in order to maintain what is called referential integrity.
Otherwise, the foreign key column (Car_Number) in Employees would contain an entry that
did not refer to anything in Cars. A foreign key must either be null or equal to an existing
primary key value of the table to which it refers. This is different from a primary key, which
may not be null. There are several null values in the Car_Number column in the table
Employees because it is possible for an employee not to have a company car.
The following code asks for the first and last names of employees who have company cars
and for the make, model, and year of those cars. Note that the FROM clause lists both
Employees and Cars because the requested data is contained in both tables. Using the table
name and a dot (.) before the column name indicates which table contains the column.
SELECT Employees.First_Name, Employees.Last_Name, Cars.Make,

Cars.Model, Cars.Year
FROM Employees, Cars
WHERE Employees.Car_Number = Cars.Car_Number
This returns a result set that will look similar to the following:
FIRST_NAME LAST_NAME MAKE MODEL YEAR

----------- ------------ -------- --------- -------
Axel Washington Honda CivicDX 1996
Florence Wojokowski Toyota Corolla 1999
Common SQL Commands
SQL commands are divided into categories, the two main ones being Data Manipulation
Language (DML) commands and Data Definition Language (DDL) commands. DML
commands deal with data, either retrieving it or modifying it to keep it up-to-date. DDL
commands create or change tables and other database objects such as views and indexes.
A list of the more common DML commands follows:
• SELECT — used to query and display data from a database. The SELECT
statement specifies which columns to include in the result set. The vast
majority of the SQL commands used in applications are SELECT statements.
• INSERT — adds new rows to a table. INSERT is used to populate a newly

created table or to add a new row (or rows) to an already-existing table.
25
• DELETE — removes a specified row or set of rows from a table
• UPDATE — changes an existing value in a column or group of columns in a

table
The more common DDL commands follow:
• CREATE TABLE — creates a table with the column names the user provides.
The user also needs to specify a type for the data in each column. Data
types vary from one RDBMS to another, so a user might need to use
metadata to establish the data types used by a particular database. CREATE
TABLE is normally used less often than the data manipulation commands
because a table is created only once, whereas adding or deleting rows or
changing individual values generally occurs more frequently.
• DROP TABLE — deletes all rows and removes the table definition from the
database. A JDBC API implementation is required to support the DROP
TABLE command as specified by SQL92, Transitional Level. However,
support for the CASCADE and RESTRICT options of DROP TABLE is optional. In
addition, the behavior of DROP TABLE is implementation-defined when there
are views or integrity constraints defined that reference the table being
dropped.
• ALTER TABLE — adds or removes a column from a table. It also adds or drops
table constraints and alters column attributes
Result Sets and Cursors
The rows that satisfy the conditions of a query are called the result set. The number of rows
returned in a result set can be zero, one, or many. A user can access the data in a result set
one row at a time, and a cursor provides the means to do that. A cursor can be thought of as
a pointer into a file that contains the rows of the result set, and that pointer has the ability to
26
keep track of which row is currently being accessed. A cursor allows a user to process each
row of a result set from top to bottom and consequently may be used for iterative processing.
Most DBMSs create a cursor automatically when a result set is generated.
Earlier JDBC API versions added new capabilities for a result set's cursor, allowing it to move
both forward and backward and also allowing it to move to a specified row or to a row whose
position is relative to another row.
Transactions
When one user is accessing data in a database, another user may be accessing the same
data at the same time. If, for instance, the first user is updating some columns in a table at
the same time the second user is selecting columns from that same table, it is possible for
the second user to get partly old data and partly updated data. For this reason, DBMSs use
transactions to maintain data in a consistent state (data consistency) while allowing more
than one user to access a database at the same time (data concurrency).
A transaction is a set of one or more SQL statements that make up a logical unit of work. A
transaction ends with either a commit or a rollback, depending on whether there are any
problems with data consistency or data concurrency. The commit statement makes
permanent the changes resulting from the SQL statements in the transaction, and the
rollback statement undoes all changes resulting from the SQL statements in the transaction.
A lock is a mechanism that prohibits two transactions from manipulating the same data at the
same time. For example, a table lock prevents a table from being dropped if there is an
uncommitted transaction on that table. In some DBMSs, a table lock also locks all of the rows
in a table. A row lock prevents two transactions from modifying the same row, or it prevents
one transaction from selecting a row while another transaction is still modifying it.
Stored Procedures
A stored procedure is a group of SQL statements that can be called by name. In other words,
it is executable code, a mini-program, that performs a particular task that can be invoked the
same way one can call a function or method. Traditionally, stored procedures have been
written in a DBMS-specific programming language. The latest generation of database
products allows stored procedures to be written using the Java programming language and
the JDBC API. Stored procedures written in the Java programming language are bytecode
portable between DBMSs. Once a stored procedure is written, it can be used and reused
because a DBMS that supports stored procedures will, as its name implies, store it in the
database.
The following code is an example of how to create a very simple stored procedure using the
Java programming language. Note that the stored procedure is just a static Java method that
contains normal JDBC code. It accepts two input parameters and uses them to change an
employee's car number.
27
Do not worry if you do not understand the example at this point. The code example below is
presented only to illustrate what a stored procedure looks like. You will learn how to write the
code in this example in the tutorials that follow.
import java.sql.*;
public class UpdateCar {
public static void UpdateCarNum(int carNo, int empNo)

throws SQLException {
Connection con = null;
PreparedStatement pstmt = null;
try {
con = DriverManager.getConnection("jdbc:default:connection");
pstmt = con.prepareStatement(
"UPDATE EMPLOYEES SET CAR_NUMBER = ? " +
"WHERE EMPLOYEE_NUMBER = ?");
pstmt.setInt(1, carNo);
pstmt.setInt(2, empNo);
pstmt.executeUpdate();
}
finally {
if (pstmt != null) pstmt.close();
}
}
}
Metadata
Databases store user data, and they also store information about the database itself. Most
DBMSs have a set of system tables, which list tables in the database, column names in each
table, primary keys, foreign keys, stored procedures, and so forth. Each DBMS has its own
functions for getting information about table layouts and database features. JDBC provides
the interface DatabaseMetaData, which a driver writer must implement so that its methods
return information about the driver and/or DBMS for which the driver is written. For example,
a large number of methods return whether or not the driver supports a particular functionality.
This interface gives users and tools a standardized way to get metadata. In general,
developers writing tools and drivers are the ones most likely to be concerned with metadata.
JDBC Architecture
The JDBC API supports both two-tier and three-tier processing models for database access.
Figure 1: Two-tier Architecture for Data Access.

28
In the two-tier model, a Java application talks directly to the data source. This requires a
JDBC driver that can communicate with the particular data source being accessed. A user's
commands are delivered to the database or other data source, and the results of those
statements are sent back to the user. The data source may be located on another machine to
which the user is connected via a network. This is referred to as a client/server configuration,
with the user's machine as the client, and the machine housing the data source as the server.
The network can be an intranet, which, for example, connects employees within a
corporation, or it can be the Internet.
In the three-tier model, commands are sent to a "middle tier" of services, which then sends
the commands to the data source. The data source processes the commands and sends the
results back to the middle tier, which then sends them to the user. MIS directors find the
three-tier model very attractive because the middle tier makes it possible to maintain control
over access and the kinds of updates that can be made to corporate data. Another advantage
is that it simplifies the deployment of applications. Finally, in many cases, the three-tier
architecture can provide performance advantages.
Figure 2: Three-tier Architecture for Data Access.
Until recently, the middle tier has often been written in languages such as C or C++, which
offer fast performance. However, with the introduction of optimizing compilers that translate
Java bytecode into efficient machine-specific code and technologies such as Enterprise
JavaBeans™, the Java platform is fast becoming the standard platform for middle-tier
development. This is a big plus, making it possible to take advantage of Java's robustness,
multithreading, and security features.
29
With enterprises increasingly using the Java programming language for writing server code,
the JDBC API is being used more and more in the middle tier of a three-tier architecture.
Some of the features that make JDBC a server technology are its support for connection
pooling, distributed transactions, and disconnected rowsets. The JDBC API is also what
allows access to a data source from a Java middle tier.
A Relational Database Overview
A database is a means of storing information in such a way that information can be retrieved
from it. In simplest terms, a relational database is one that presents information in tables with
rows and columns. A table is referred to as a relation in the sense that it is a collection of
objects of the same type (rows). Data in a table can be related according to common keys or
concepts, and the ability to retrieve related data from a table is the basis for the term
relational database. A Database Management System (DBMS) handles the way data is
stored, maintained, and retrieved. In the case of a relational database, a Relational Database
Management System (RDBMS) performs these tasks. DBMS as used in this book is a
general term that includes RDBMS.
Integrity Rules
Relational tables follow certain integrity rules to ensure that the data they contain stay
accurate and are always accessible. First, the rows in a relational table should all be distinct.
If there are duplicate rows, there can be problems resolving which of two possible selections
is the correct one. For most DBMSs, the user can specify that duplicate rows are not allowed,
and if that is done, the DBMS will prevent the addition of any rows that duplicate an existing
row.
A second integrity rule of the traditional relational model is that column values must not be
repeating groups or arrays. A third aspect of data integrity involves the concept of a null
value. A database takes care of situations where data may not be available by using a null
value to indicate that a value is missing. It does not equate to a blank or zero. A blank is
considered equal to another blank, a zero is equal to another zero, but two null values are not
considered equal.
When each row in a table is different, it is possible to use one or more columns to identify a
particular row. This unique column or group of columns is called a primary key. Any column
that is part of a primary key cannot be null; if it were, the primary key containing it would no
longer be a complete identifier. This rule is referred to as entity integrity.
Table 1.2 illustrates some of these relational database concepts. It has five columns and six
rows, with each row representing a different employee.
Table 1.2: Employees
Employee_Number First_name Last_Name Date_of_Birth Car_Number

30
10001 Axel Washington 28-Aug-43 5

10083 Arvid Sharma 24-Nov-54 null
10120 Jonas Ginsberg 01-Jan-69 null
10005 Florence Wojokowski 04-Jul-71 12
10099 Sean Washington 21-Sep-66 null
10035 Elizabeth Yamaguchi 24-Dec-59 null
The primary key for this table would generally be the employee number because each one is
guaranteed to be different. (A number is also more efficient than a string for making
comparisons.) It would also be possible to use First_Name and Last_Name because the
combination of the two also identifies just one row in our sample database. Using the last
name alone would not work because there are two employees with the last name of
"Washington." In this particular case the first names are all different, so one could
conceivably use that column as a primary key, but it is best to avoid using a column where
duplicates could occur. If Elizabeth Taylor gets a job at this company and the primary key is
First_Name, the RDBMS will not allow her name to be added (if it has been specified that no
duplicates are permitted). Because there is already an Elizabeth in the table, adding a
second one would make the primary key useless as a way of identifying just one row. Note
that although using First_Name and Last_Name is a unique composite key for this example,
it might not be unique in a larger database. Note also that Table 1.2 assumes that there can
be only one car per employee.
SELECT Statements
SQL is a language designed to be used with relational databases. There is a set of basic
SQL commands that is considered standard and is used by all RDBMSs. For example, all
RDBMSs use the SELECT statement.
A SELECT statement, also called a query, is used to get information from a table. It specifies
one or more column headings, one or more tables from which to select, and some criteria for
selection. The RDBMS returns rows of the column entries that satisfy the stated
requirements. A SELECT statement such as the following will fetch the first and last names of
employees who have company cars:

FROM Employees
WHERE Car_Number IS NOT NULL
The result set (the set of rows that satisfy the requirement of not having null in the
Car_Number column) follows. The first name and last name are printed for each row that
satisfies the requirement because the SELECT statement (the first line) specifies the columns
First_Name and Last_Name. The FROM clause (the second line) gives the table from which
the columns will be selected.
31
FIRST_NAME LAST_NAME
---------- -----------
Axel Washington
Florence Wojokowski
The following code produces a result set that includes the whole table because it asks for all
of the columns in the table Employees with no restrictions (no WHERE clause). Note that SELECT
* means "SELECT all columns."
SELECT *
FROM Employees
WHERE Clauses
The WHERE clause in a SELECT statement provides the criteria for selecting values. For
example, in the following code fragment, values will be selected only if they occur in a row in
which the column Last_Name begins with the string 'Washington'.

FROM Employees
WHERE Last_Name LIKE 'Washington%'
The keyword LIKE is used to compare strings, and it offers the feature that patterns
containing wildcards can be used. For example, in the code fragment above, there is a
percent sign (%) at the end of 'Washington', which signifies that any value containing the
string 'Washington' plus zero or more additional characters will satisfy this selection criterion.
So 'Washington' or 'Washingtonian' would be matches, but 'Washing' would not be. The other
wildcard used in LIKE clauses is an underbar (_), which stands for any one character. For
example,
WHERE Last_Name LIKE 'Ba_man'
would match 'Batman', 'Barman', 'Badman', 'Balman', 'Bagman', 'Bamman', and so on.
The code fragment below has a WHERE clause that uses the equal sign (=) to compare
numbers. It selects the first and last name of the employee who is assigned car 12.

FROM Employees
WHERE Car_Number = 12
The next code fragment selects the first and last names of employees whose employee
number is greater than 10005:

FROM Employees
WHERE Employee_Number > 10005
32
WHERE clauses can get rather elaborate, with multiple conditions and, in some DBMSs, nested
conditions. This overview will not cover complicated WHERE clauses, but the following code
fragment has a WHERE clause with two conditions; this query selects the first and last names of
employees whose employee number is less than 10100 and who do not have a company car.

FROM Employees
WHERE Employee_Number < 10100 and Car_Number IS NULL
A special type of WHERE clause involves a join, which is explained in the next section.
Joins
A distinguishing feature of relational databases is that it is possible to get data from more
than one table in what is called a join. Suppose that after retrieving the names of employees
who have company cars, one wanted to find out who has which car, including the make,
model, and year of car. This information is stored in another table, Cars, shown in Table 1.3.
Table 1.3. Cars
Car Number Make Model Year

5 Honda Civic DX 1996
12 Toyota Corolla 1999
There must be one column that appears in both tables in order to relate them to each other.
This column, which must be the primary key in one table, is called the foreign key in the other
table. In this case, the column that appears in two tables is Car_Number, which is the primary
key for the table Cars and the foreign key in the table Employees. If the 1996 Honda Civic
were wrecked and deleted from the Cars table, then Car_Number 5 would also have to be
removed from the Employees table in order to maintain what is called referential integrity.
Otherwise, the foreign key column (Car_Number) in Employees would contain an entry that
did not refer to anything in Cars. A foreign key must either be null or equal to an existing
primary key value of the table to which it refers. This is different from a primary key, which
may not be null. There are several null values in the Car_Number column in the table
Employees because it is possible for an employee not to have a company car.
The following code asks for the first and last names of employees who have company cars
and for the make, model, and year of those cars. Note that the FROM clause lists both
Employees and Cars because the requested data is contained in both tables. Using the table
name and a dot (.) before the column name indicates which table contains the column.
SELECT Employees.First_Name, Employees.Last_Name, Cars.Make,

Cars.Model, Cars.Year
FROM Employees, Cars
WHERE Employees.Car_Number = Cars.Car_Number
33
This returns a result set that will look similar to the following:
FIRST_NAME LAST_NAME MAKE MODEL YEAR

----------- ------------ -------- --------- -------
Axel Washington Honda CivicDX 1996
Florence Wojokowski Toyota Corolla 1999
Common SQL Commands
SQL commands are divided into categories, the two main ones being Data Manipulation
Language (DML) commands and Data Definition Language (DDL) commands. DML
commands deal with data, either retrieving it or modifying it to keep it up-to-date. DDL
commands create or change tables and other database objects such as views and indexes.
A list of the more common DML commands follows:
• SELECT — used to query and display data from a database. The SELECT
statement specifies which columns to include in the result set. The vast
majority of the SQL commands used in applications are SELECT statements.
• INSERT — adds new rows to a table. INSERT is used to populate a newly

created table or to add a new row (or rows) to an already-existing table.
• DELETE — removes a specified row or set of rows from a table
• UPDATE — changes an existing value in a column or group of columns in a

table
The more common DDL commands follow:
• CREATE TABLE — creates a table with the column names the user provides.
The user also needs to specify a type for the data in each column. Data
types vary from one RDBMS to another, so a user might need to use
metadata to establish the data types used by a particular database. CREATE
TABLE is normally used less often than the data manipulation commands
because a table is created only once, whereas adding or deleting rows or
changing individual values generally occurs more frequently.
34
• DROP TABLE — deletes all rows and removes the table definition from the
database. A JDBC API implementation is required to support the DROP
TABLE command as specified by SQL92, Transitional Level. However,
support for the CASCADE and RESTRICT options of DROP TABLE is optional. In
addition, the behavior of DROP TABLE is implementation-defined when there
are views or integrity constraints defined that reference the table being
dropped.
• ALTER TABLE — adds or removes a column from a table. It also adds or drops
table constraints and alters column attributes
Result Sets and Cursors
The rows that satisfy the conditions of a query are called the result set. The number of rows
returned in a result set can be zero, one, or many. A user can access the data in a result set
one row at a time, and a cursor provides the means to do that. A cursor can be thought of as
a pointer into a file that contains the rows of the result set, and that pointer has the ability to
keep track of which row is currently being accessed. A cursor allows a user to process each
row of a result set from top to bottom and consequently may be used for iterative processing.
Most DBMSs create a cursor automatically when a result set is generated.
Earlier JDBC API versions added new capabilities for a result set's cursor, allowing it to move
both forward and backward and also allowing it to move to a specified row or to a row whose
position is relative to another row.
Transactions
When one user is accessing data in a database, another user may be accessing the same
data at the same time. If, for instance, the first user is updating some columns in a table at
the same time the second user is selecting columns from that same table, it is possible for
the second user to get partly old data and partly updated data. For this reason, DBMSs use
transactions to maintain data in a consistent state (data consistency) while allowing more
than one user to access a database at the same time (data concurrency).
A transaction is a set of one or more SQL statements that make up a logical unit of work. A
transaction ends with either a commit or a rollback, depending on whether there are any
problems with data consistency or data concurrency. The commit statement makes
permanent the changes resulting from the SQL statements in the transaction, and the
rollback statement undoes all changes resulting from the SQL statements in the transaction.
35
A lock is a mechanism that prohibits two transactions from manipulating the same data at the
same time. For example, a table lock prevents a table from being dropped if there is an
uncommitted transaction on that table. In some DBMSs, a table lock also locks all of the rows
in a table. A row lock prevents two transactions from modifying the same row, or it prevents
one transaction from selecting a row while another transaction is still modifying it.
Stored Procedures
A stored procedure is a group of SQL statements that can be called by name. In other words,
it is executable code, a mini-program, that performs a particular task that can be invoked the
same way one can call a function or method. Traditionally, stored procedures have been
written in a DBMS-specific programming language. The latest generation of database
products allows stored procedures to be written using the Java programming language and
the JDBC API. Stored procedures written in the Java programming language are bytecode
portable between DBMSs. Once a stored procedure is written, it can be used and reused
because a DBMS that supports stored procedures will, as its name implies, store it in the
database.
The following code is an example of how to create a very simple stored procedure using the
Java programming language. Note that the stored procedure is just a static Java method that
contains normal JDBC code. It accepts two input parameters and uses them to change an
employee's car number.
Do not worry if you do not understand the example at this point. The code example below is
presented only to illustrate what a stored procedure looks like. You will learn how to write the
code in this example in the tutorials that follow.
import java.sql.*;
public class UpdateCar {
public static void UpdateCarNum(int carNo, int empNo)

throws SQLException {
Connection con = null;
PreparedStatement pstmt = null;
try {
con = DriverManager.getConnection("jdbc:default:connection");
pstmt = con.prepareStatement(
"UPDATE EMPLOYEES SET CAR_NUMBER = ? " +
"WHERE EMPLOYEE_NUMBER = ?");
pstmt.setInt(1, carNo);
pstmt.setInt(2, empNo);
pstmt.executeUpdate();
}
finally {
if (pstmt != null) pstmt.close();
}
}
36
Metadata
Databases store user data, and they also store information about the database itself. Most
DBMSs have a set of system tables, which list tables in the database, column names in each
table, primary keys, foreign keys, stored procedures, and so forth. Each DBMS has its own
functions for getting information about table layouts and database features. JDBC provides
the interface DatabaseMetaData, which a driver writer must implement so that its methods
return information about the driver and/or DBMS for which the driver is written. For example,
a large number of methods return whether or not the driver supports a particular functionality.
This interface gives users and tools a standardized way to get metadata. In general,
developers writing tools and drivers are the ones most likely to be concerned with metadata.
Deployment
Packaging Programs in JAR Files
The Java Archive (JAR) file format enables you to bundle multiple files into a
TM
single archive file. Typically a JAR file contains the class files and auxiliary
resources associated with applets and applications.
The JAR file format provides many benefits:
• Security: You can digitally sign the contents of a JAR file. Users who
recognize your signature can then optionally grant your software security
privileges it wouldn't otherwise have.
• Decreased download time: If your applet is bundled in a JAR file, the
applet's class files and associated resources can be downloaded to a
browser in a single HTTP transaction without the need for opening a new
connection for each file.
• Compression: The JAR format allows you to compress your files for efficient
storage.
• Packaging for extensions: The extensions framework provides a means by
which you can add functionality to the Java core platform, and the JAR file
format defines the packaging for extensions. Java 3D™ and JavaMail™ are
examples of extensions developed by Sun . By using the JAR file format,
TM
you can turn your software into extensions as well.

• Package Sealing: Packages stored in JAR files can be optionally sealed so
that the package can enforce version consistency. Sealing a package within
a JAR file means that all classes defined in that package must be found in
the same JAR file.
• Package Versioning: A JAR file can hold data about the files it contains,
such as vendor and version information.
• Portability: The mechanism for handling JAR files is a standard part of the
Java platform's core API.
37
Threads
Reflection
The Reflection API
Uses of Reflection
Reflection is commonly used by programs which require the ability to examine or modify the
runtime behavior of applications running in the Java virtual machine. This is a relatively
advanced feature and should be used only by developers who have a strong grasp of the
fundamentals of the language. With that caveat in mind, reflection is a powerful technique
and can enable applications to perform operations which would otherwise be impossible.
Extensibility Features
An application may make use of external, user-defined classes by creating
instances of extensibility objects using their fully-qualified names.
Class Browsers and Visual Development Environments
A class browser needs to be able to enumerate the members of classes.
Visual development environments can benefit from making use of type
information available in reflection to aid the developer in writing correct
code.
Debuggers and Test Tools
Debuggers need to be able to examine private members on classes. Test
harnesses can make use of reflection to systematically call a discoverable
set APIs defined on a class, to insure a high level of code coverage in a test
suite.
Drawbacks of Reflection
Reflection is powerful, but should not be used indiscriminately. If it is possible to
perform an operation without using reflection, then it is preferable to avoid using
it. The following concerns should be kept in mind when accessing code via
reflection.
Performance Overhead
Because reflection involves types that are dynamically resolved, certain
Java virtual machine optimizations can not be performed. Consequently,
reflective operations have slower performance than their non-reflective
counterparts, and should be avoided in sections of code which are called
frequently in performance-sensitive applications.
Security Restrictions
Reflection requires a runtime permission which may not be present when
running under a security manager. This is in an important consideration for
code which has to run in a restricted security context, such as in an Applet.
Exposure of Internals
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Since reflection allows code to perform operations that would be illegal in

non-reflective code, such as accessing private fields and methods, the use
of reflection can result in unexpected side-effects, which may render code
dysfunctional and may destroy portability. Reflective code breaks
abstractions and therefore may change behavior with upgrades of the
platform.
Trail Lessons
This trail covers common uses of reflection for accessing and manipulating
classes, fields, methods, and constructors. Each lesson contains code examples,
tips, and troubleshooting information.
Classes
This lesson shows the various ways to obtain a Class object and use it to
examine properties of a class, including its declaration and contents.
Members
This lesson describes how to use the Reflection APIs to find the fields,
methods, and constructors of a class. Examples are provided for setting
and getting field values, invoking methods, and creating new instances of
objects using specific constructors.
Arrays and Enumerated Types
This lesson introduces two special types of classes: arrays, which are
generated at runtime, and enum types, which define unique named object
instances. Sample code shows how to retrieve the component type for an
array and how to set and get fields with array or enum types.
Note: The examples in this trail are designed for experimenting with the
Reflection APIs. The handling of exceptions therefore is not the same as would be
used in production code. In particular, in production code it is not recommended
to dump stack traces that are visible to the user.
Classes
Every object is either a reference or primitive type. Reference types all inherit
from java.lang.Object. Classes, enums, arrays, and interfaces are all reference
types. There is a fixed set of primitive types: boolean, byte, short, int, long, char,
float, and double. Examples of reference types include java.lang.String, all of the
wrapper classes for primitive types such as java.lang.Double, the interface
java.io.Serializable, and the enum javax.swing.SortOrder.
For every type of object, the Java virtual machine instantiates an immutable instance of
java.lang.Class which provides methods to examine the runtime properties of the object
including its members and type information. Class also provides the ability to create new
classes and objects. Most importantly, it is the entry point for all of the Reflection APIs. This
lesson covers the most commonly used reflection operations involving classes:
• Retrieving Class Objects describes the ways to get a Class

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• Examining Class Modifiers and Types shows how to access the class
declaration information
• Discovering Class Members illustrates how to list the constructors, fields,
methods, and nested classes in a class
• Troubleshooting describes common errors encountered when using Class
Examining Class Modifiers and Types

A class may be declared with one or more modifiers which affect its runtime behavior:
• Access modifiers: public, protected, and private

• Modifier requiring override: abstract
• Modifier restricting to one instance: static
• Modifier prohibiting value modification: final
• Modifier forcing strict floating point behavior: strictfp
• Annotations
Not all modifiers are allowed on all classes, for example an interface cannot be final and an enum
cannot be abstract. java.lang.reflect.Modifier contains declarations for all possible modifiers.
It also contains methods which may be used to decode the set of modifiers returned by
Class.getModifiers().
The ClassDeclarationSpy example shows how to obtain the declaration components of a class
including the modifiers, generic type parameters, implemented interfaces, and the inheritance path.
Since Class implements the java.lang.reflect.AnnotatedElement interface it is also possible to
query the runtime annotations.
import java.lang.annotation.Annotation;
import java.lang.reflect.Modifier;
import java.lang.reflect.Type;
import java.lang.reflect.TypeVariable;
import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import static java.lang.System.out;
public class ClassDeclarationSpy {

public static void main(String... args) {
try {
Class<?> c = Class.forName(args[0]);
out.format("Class:%n %s%n%n", c.getCanonicalName());
out.format("Modifiers:%n %s%n%n",
Modifier.toString(c.getModifiers()));
out.format("Type Parameters:%n");
TypeVariable[] tv = c.getTypeParameters();
if (tv.length != 0) {
out.format(" ");
for (TypeVariable t : tv)
out.format("%s ", t.getName());
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out.format("%n%n");
} else {
out.format(" -- No Type Parameters --%n%n");
}
out.format("Implemented Interfaces:%n");
Type[] intfs = c.getGenericInterfaces();
if (intfs.length != 0) {
for (Type intf : intfs)
out.format(" %s%n", intf.toString());
out.format("%n");
} else {
out.format(" -- No Implemented Interfaces --%n%n");
}
out.format("Inheritance Path:%n");
List<Class> l = new ArrayList<Class>();
printAncestor(c, l);
if (l.size() != 0) {
for (Class<?> cl : l)
out.format(" %s%n", cl.getCanonicalName());
out.format("%n");
} else {
out.format(" -- No Super Classes --%n%n");
}
out.format("Annotations:%n");
Annotation[] ann = c.getAnnotations();
if (ann.length != 0) {
for (Annotation a : ann)
out.format(" %s%n", a.toString());
out.format("%n");
} else {
out.format(" -- No Annotations --%n%n");
}
// production code should handle this exception more gracefully

} catch (ClassNotFoundException x) {
x.printStackTrace();
}
}
private static void printAncestor(Class<?> c, List<Class> l) {

Class<?> ancestor = c.getSuperclass();
if (ancestor != null) {
l.add(ancestor);
printAncestor(ancestor, l);
}
}
}
A few samples of the output follows. User input is in italics.
$ java ClassDeclarationSpy java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentNavigableMap
Class:
java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentNavigableMap
Modifiers:
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public abstract interface
Type Parameters:
K V
Implemented Interfaces:
java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentMap<K, V>
java.util.NavigableMap<K, V>
Inheritance Path:
-- No Super Classes --
Annotations:
-- No Annotations --
This is the actual declaration for java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentNavigableMap in the source
code:
public interface ConcurrentNavigableMap<K,V>
extends ConcurrentMap, NavigableMap<K,V>
Note that since this is an interface, it is implicitly abstract.
The compiler adds this modifier for every
interface. Also, this declaration contains two generic type parameters, K and V. The example code
simply prints the names of these parameters, but is it possible to retrieve additional information about
them using methods in java.lang.reflect.TypeVariable. Interfaces may also implement other
interfaces as shown above.
$ java ClassDeclarationSpy "[Ljava.lang.String;"
Class:
java.lang.String[]
Modifiers:
public abstract final
Type Parameters:
-- No Type Parameters --
interface java.lang.Cloneable
interface java.io.Serializable
Inheritance Path:
java.lang.Object
Annotations:
Since arrays are runtime objects, all of the type information is defined by the Java virtual machine. In
particular, arrays implement Cloneable and java.io.Serializable and their direct superclass is
always Object.
$ java ClassDeclarationSpy java.io.InterruptedIOException
Class:
java.io.InterruptedIOException
Modifiers:
public
Type Parameters:
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-- No Implemented Interfaces --
Inheritance Path:
java.io.IOException
java.lang.Exception
java.lang.Throwable
java.lang.Object
Annotations:
From the inheritance path, it may be deduced that java.io.InterruptedIOException is a checked
exception because RuntimeException is not present.
$ java ClassDeclarationSpy java.security.Identity
Class:
java.security.Identity
Modifiers:
public abstract
Type Parameters:
interface java.security.Principal
interface java.io.Serializable
Inheritance Path:
java.lang.Object
Annotations:
@java.lang.Deprecated()
This output shows that java.security.Identity, a deprecated API, possesses the annotation
java.lang.Deprecated. This may be used by reflective code to detect deprecated APIs.
Note: Not all annotations are available via reflection. Only those which have a
java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy of RUNTIME are accessible. Of the three annotations pre-
defined in the language @Deprecated, @Override, and @SuppressWarnings only @Deprecated is
available at runtime.
Security
Security Features in Java SE
In this trail you'll learn how the built-in Java™ security features protect you from malevolent
programs. You'll see how to use tools to control access to resources, to generate and to check digital
signatures, and to create and to manage keys needed for signature generation and checking. You'll also
see how to incorporate cryptography services, such as digital signature generation and checking, into
your programs.
The security features provided by the Java Development Kit (JDK™) are intended for a variety of
audiences:
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• Users running programs:
Built-in security functionality protects you from malevolent programs (including viruses),
maintains the privacy of your files and information about you, and authenticates the identity of
each code provider. You can subject applications and applets to security controls when you
need to.
• Developers:
You can use API methods to incorporate security functionality into your programs,
including cryptography services and security checks. The API framework enables you
to define and integrate your own permissions (controlling access to specific resources),
cryptography service implementations, security manager implementations, and policy
implementations. In addition, classes are provided for management of your
public/private key pairs and public key certificates from people you trust.
• Systems administrators, developers, and users:
JDK tools manage your keystore (database of keys and certificates); generate digital signatures
for JAR files, and verify the authenticity of such signatures and the integrity of the signed
contents; and create and modify the policy files that define your installation's security policy.
RMI
The Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) system allows an object running in one Java virtual
machine to invoke methods on an object running in another Java virtual machine. RMI provides for
remote communication between programs written in the Java programming language.
Note: If you are connecting to an existing IDL program, you should use Java IDL rather than RMI.
This trail provides a brief overview of the RMI system and then walks through a complete client/server
example that uses RMI's unique capabilities to load and to execute user-defined tasks at runtime. The
server in the example implements a generic compute engine, which the client uses to compute the
value of .
An Overview of RMI Applications

RMI applications often comprise two separate programs, a server and a client. A
typical server program creates some remote objects, makes references to these
objects accessible, and waits for clients to invoke methods on these objects. A
typical client program obtains a remote reference to one or more remote objects
on a server and then invokes methods on them. RMI provides the mechanism by
which the server and the client communicate and pass information back and
forth. Such an application is sometimes referred to as a distributed object
application.
Distributed object applications need to do the following:

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• Locate remote objects. Applications can use various mechanisms to

obtain references to remote objects. For example, an application can
register its remote objects with RMI's simple naming facility, the RMI
registry. Alternatively, an application can pass and return remote object
references as part of other remote invocations.
• Communicate with remote objects. Details of communication between
remote objects are handled by RMI. To the programmer, remote
communication looks similar to regular Java method invocations.
• Load class definitions for objects that are passed around. Because
RMI enables objects to be passed back and forth, it provides mechanisms
for loading an object's class definitions as well as for transmitting an
object's data.
The following illustration depicts an RMI distributed application that uses the RMI
registry to obtain a reference to a remote object. The server calls the registry to
associate (or bind) a name with a remote object. The client looks up the remote
object by its name in the server's registry and then invokes a method on it. The
illustration also shows that the RMI system uses an existing web server to load
class definitions, from server to client and from client to server, for objects when
needed.
Advantages of Dynamic Code Loading

One of the central and unique features of RMI is its ability to download the
definition of an object's class if the class is not defined in the receiver's Java
virtual machine. All of the types and behavior of an object, previously available
only in a single Java virtual machine, can be transmitted to another, possibly
remote, Java virtual machine. RMI passes objects by their actual classes, so the
behavior of the objects is not changed when they are sent to another Java virtual
machine. This capability enables new types and behaviors to be introduced into a
remote Java virtual machine, thus dynamically extending the behavior of an
application. The compute engine example in this trail uses this capability to
introduce new behavior to a distributed program.
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Remote Interfaces, Objects, and Methods

Like any other Java application, a distributed application built by using Java RMI
is made up of interfaces and classes. The interfaces declare methods. The classes
implement the methods declared in the interfaces and, perhaps, declare
additional methods as well. In a distributed application, some implementations
might reside in some Java virtual machines but not others. Objects with methods
that can be invoked across Java virtual machines are called remote objects.
An object becomes remote by implementing a remote interface, which has the following
characteristics:
• A remote interface extends the interface java.rmi.Remote.

• Each method of the interface declares java.rmi.RemoteException in its throws
clause, in addition to any application-specific exceptions.
RMI treats a remote object differently from a non-remote object when the object is passed
from one Java virtual machine to another Java virtual machine. Rather than making a copy of
the implementation object in the receiving Java virtual machine, RMI passes a remote stub
for a remote object. The stub acts as the local representative, or proxy, for the remote object
and basically is, to the client, the remote reference. The client invokes a method on the local
stub, which is responsible for carrying out the method invocation on the remote object.
A stub for a remote object implements the same set of remote interfaces that the remote
object implements. This property enables a stub to be cast to any of the interfaces that the
remote object implements. However, only those methods defined in a remote interface are
available to be called from the receiving Java virtual machine.
Creating Distributed Applications by Using RMI

Using RMI to develop a distributed application involves these general steps:
1. Designing and implementing the components of your distributed

application.
2. Compiling sources.
3. Making classes network accessible.
4. Starting the application.
Designing and Implementing the Application Components

First, determine your application architecture, including which components are
local objects and which components are remotely accessible. This step includes:
• Defining the remote interfaces. A remote interface specifies the

methods that can be invoked remotely by a client. Clients program to
remote interfaces, not to the implementation classes of those interfaces.
The design of such interfaces includes the determination of the types of
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objects that will be used as the parameters and return values for these
methods. If any of these interfaces or classes do not yet exist, you need to
define them as well.
• Implementing the remote objects. Remote objects must implement one
or more remote interfaces. The remote object class may include
implementations of other interfaces and methods that are available only
locally. If any local classes are to be used for parameters or return values
of any of these methods, they must be implemented as well.
• Implementing the clients. Clients that use remote objects can be
implemented at any time after the remote interfaces are defined, including
after the remote objects have been deployed.
Compiling Sources
As with any Java program, you use the javac compiler to compile the source files.
The source files contain the declarations of the remote interfaces, their
implementations, any other server classes, and the client classes.
Note: With versions prior to Java Platform, Standard Edition 5.0, an additional
step was required to build stub classes, by using the rmic compiler. However, this
step is no longer necessary.
Making Classes Network Accessible

In this step, you make certain class definitions network accessible, such as the
definitions for the remote interfaces and their associated types, and the
definitions for classes that need to be downloaded to the clients or servers.
Classes definitions are typically made network accessible through a web server.
Starting the Application

Starting the application includes running the RMI remote object registry, the
server, and the client.
The rest of this section walks through the steps used to create a compute engine.
Building a Generic Compute Engine

This trail focuses on a simple, yet powerful, distributed application called a
compute engine. The compute engine is a remote object on the server that takes
tasks from clients, runs the tasks, and returns any results. The tasks are run on
the machine where the server is running. This type of distributed application can
enable a number of client machines to make use of a particularly powerful
machine or a machine that has specialized hardware.
The novel aspect of the compute engine is that the tasks it runs do not need to be defined
when the compute engine is written or started. New kinds of tasks can be created at any time
and then given to the compute engine to be run. The only requirement of a task is that its
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class implement a particular interface. The code needed to accomplish the task can be
downloaded by the RMI system to the compute engine. Then, the compute engine runs the
task, using the resources on the machine on which the compute engine is running.
The ability to perform arbitrary tasks is enabled by the dynamic nature of the Java platform,
which is extended to the network by RMI. RMI dynamically loads the task code into the
compute engine's Java virtual machine and runs the task without prior knowledge of the class
that implements the task. Such an application, which has the ability to download code
dynamically, is often called a behavior-based application. Such applications usually require
full agent-enabled infrastructures. With RMI, such applications are part of the basic
mechanisms for distributed computing on the Java platform.
Writing an RMI Server

The compute engine server accepts tasks from clients, runs the tasks, and
returns any results. The server code consists of an interface and a class. The
interface defines the methods that can be invoked from the client. Essentially,
the interface defines the client's view of the remote object. The class provides the
implementation.
Designing a Remote Interface
This section explains the Compute interface, which provides the connection
between the client and the server. You will also learn about the RMI API, which
supports this communication.
Implementing a Remote Interface
This section explores the class that implements the Compute interface, thereby
implementing a remote object. This class also provides the rest of the code that
makes up the server program, including a main method that creates an instance
of the remote object, registers it with the RMI registry, and sets up a security
manager.
Designing a Remote Interface
At the core of the compute engine is a protocol that enables tasks to be submitted to the compute
engine, the compute engine to run those tasks, and the results of those tasks to be returned to the client.
This protocol is expressed in the interfaces that are supported by the compute engine. The remote
communication for this protocol is illustrated in the following figure.
Each interface contains a single method. The compute engine's remote interface, Compute, enables
tasks to be submitted to the engine. The client interface, Task, defines how the compute engine
executes a submitted task.
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The compute.Compute interface defines the remotely accessible part, the compute engine itself. Here
is the source code for the Compute interface:
package compute;
import java.rmi.Remote;
import java.rmi.RemoteException;
public interface Compute extends Remote {

<T> T executeTask(Task<T> t) throws RemoteException;
}
By extending the interface java.rmi.Remote, the Compute interface identifies itself as an interface
whose methods can be invoked from another Java virtual machine. Any object that implements this
interface can be a remote object.
As a member of a remote interface, the executeTask method is a remote method. Therefore, this
method must be defined as being capable of throwing a java.rmi.RemoteException. This exception
is thrown by the RMI system from a remote method invocation to indicate that either a communication
failure or a protocol error has occurred. A RemoteException is a checked exception, so any code
invoking a remote method needs to handle this exception by either catching it or declaring it in its
throws clause.
The second interface needed for the compute engine is the Task interface, which is the type of the
parameter to the executeTask method in the Compute interface. The compute.Task interface defines
the interface between the compute engine and the work that it needs to do, providing the way to start
the work. Here is the source code for the Task interface:
package compute;
public interface Task<T> {

T execute();
}
The Task interface defines a single method, execute, which has no parameters and throws no
exceptions. Because the interface does not extend Remote, the method in this interface doesn't need to
list java.rmi.RemoteException in its throws clause.
The Task interface has a type parameter, T, which represents the result type of the task's computation.
This interface's execute method returns the result of the computation and thus its return type is T.
The Compute interface's executeTask method, in turn, returns the result of the execution of the Task
instance passed to it. Thus, the executeTask method has its own type parameter, T, that associates its
own return type with the result type of the passed Task instance.
RMI uses the Java object serialization mechanism to transport objects by value between Java virtual
machines. For an object to be considered serializable, its class must implement the
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java.io.Serializable marker interface. Therefore, classes that implement the Task interface must
also implement Serializable, as must the classes of objects used for task results.
Different kinds of tasks can be run by a Compute object as long as they are implementations of the
Task type. The classes that implement this interface can contain any data needed for the computation
of the task and any other methods needed for the computation.
Here is how RMI makes this simple compute engine possible. Because RMI can assume that the Task
objects are written in the Java programming language, implementations of the Task object that were
previously unknown to the compute engine are downloaded by RMI into the compute engine's Java
virtual machine as needed. This capability enables clients of the compute engine to define new kinds of
tasks to be run on the server machine without needing the code to be explicitly installed on that
machine.
The compute engine, implemented by the ComputeEngine class, implements the Compute interface,
enabling different tasks to be submitted to it by calls to its executeTask method. These tasks are run
using the task's implementation of the execute method and the results, are returned to the remote
client.
Implementing a Remote Interface

This section discusses the task of implementing a class for the compute engine.
In general, a class that implements a remote interface should at least do the
following:
• Declare the remote interfaces being implemented

• Define the constructor for each remote object
• Provide an implementation for each remote method in the remote
interfaces
An RMI server program needs to create the initial remote objects and export them to the RMI
runtime, which makes them available to receive incoming remote invocations. This setup
procedure can be either encapsulated in a method of the remote object implementation class
itself or included in another class entirely. The setup procedure should do the following:
• Create and install a security manager

• Create and export one or more remote objects
• Register at least one remote object with the RMI registry (or with another
naming service, such as a service accessible through the Java Naming and
Directory Interface) for bootstrapping purposes
The complete implementation of the compute engine follows. The engine.ComputeEngine

class implements the remote interface Compute and also includes the main method for setting
up the compute engine. Here is the source code for the ComputeEngine class:
package engine;
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import java.rmi.RemoteException;
import java.rmi.registry.LocateRegistry;
import java.rmi.registry.Registry;
import java.rmi.server.UnicastRemoteObject;
import compute.Compute;
import compute.Task;
public class ComputeEngine implements Compute {
public ComputeEngine() {
super();
}
public <T> T executeTask(Task<T> t) {

return t.execute();
}
public static void main(String[] args) {

if (System.getSecurityManager() == null) {
System.setSecurityManager(new SecurityManager());
}
try {
String name = "Compute";
Compute engine = new ComputeEngine();
Compute stub =
(Compute) UnicastRemoteObject.exportObject(engine, 0);
Registry registry = LocateRegistry.getRegistry();
registry.rebind(name, stub);
System.out.println("ComputeEngine bound");
} catch (Exception e) {
System.err.println("ComputeEngine exception:");
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
The following sections discuss each component of the compute engine implementation.
Declaring the Remote Interfaces Being Implemented

The implementation class for the compute engine is declared as follows:
public class ComputeEngine implements Compute
This declaration states that the class implements the Compute remote interface and therefore
can be used for a remote object.
The ComputeEngine class defines a remote object implementation class that implements a
single remote interface and no other interfaces. The ComputeEngine class also contains two
executable program elements that can only be invoked locally. The first of these elements is
a constructor for ComputeEngine instances. The second of these elements is a main method
that is used to create a ComputeEngine instance and make it available to clients.
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Defining the Constructor for the Remote Object

The ComputeEngine class has a single constructor that takes no arguments. The
code for the constructor is as follows:
public ComputeEngine() {
super();
}
This constructor just invokes the superclass constructor, which is the no-
argument constructor of the Object class. Although the superclass constructor
gets invoked even if omitted from the ComputeEngine constructor, it is included for
clarity.
Providing Implementations for Each Remote Method

The class for a remote object provides implementations for each remote method
specified in the remote interfaces. The Compute interface contains a single remote
method, executeTask, which is implemented as follows:
public <T> T executeTask(Task<T> t) {
return t.execute();
}
This method implements the protocol between the ComputeEngine remote object and its
clients. Each client provides the ComputeEngine with a Task object that has a particular
implementation of the Task interface's execute method. The ComputeEngine executes each
client's task and returns the result of the task's execute method directly to the client.
Passing Objects in RMI

Arguments to or return values from remote methods can be of almost any type,
including local objects, remote objects, and primitive data types. More precisely,
any entity of any type can be passed to or from a remote method as long as the
entity is an instance of a type that is a primitive data type, a remote object, or a
serializable object, which means that it implements the interface
java.io.Serializable.
Some object types do not meet any of these criteria and thus cannot be passed to or returned
from a remote method. Most of these objects, such as threads or file descriptors, encapsulate
information that makes sense only within a single address space. Many of the core classes,
including the classes in the packages java.lang and java.util, implement the Serializable
interface.
The rules governing how arguments and return values are passed are as follows:
• Remote objects are essentially passed by reference. A remote object

reference is a stub, which is a client-side proxy that implements the
complete set of remote interfaces that the remote object implements.
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• Local objects are passed by copy, using object serialization. By default, all
fields are copied except fields that are marked static or transient. Default
serialization behavior can be overridden on a class-by-class basis.
Passing a remote object by reference means that any changes made to the state of the
object by remote method invocations are reflected in the original remote object. When a
remote object is passed, only those interfaces that are remote interfaces are available to the
receiver. Any methods defined in the implementation class or defined in non-remote
interfaces implemented by the class are not available to that receiver.
For example, if you were to pass a reference to an instance of the ComputeEngine class, the
receiver would have access only to the compute engine's executeTask method. That receiver
would not see the ComputeEngine constructor, its main method, or its implementation of any
methods of java.lang.Object.
In the parameters and return values of remote method invocations, objects that are not
remote objects are passed by value. Thus, a copy of the object is created in the receiving
Java virtual machine. Any changes to the object's state by the receiver are reflected only in
the receiver's copy, not in the sender's original instance. Any changes to the object's state by
the sender are reflected only in the sender's original instance, not in the receiver's copy.
Implementing the Server's main Method

The most complex method of the ComputeEngine implementation is the main
method. The main method is used to start the ComputeEngine and therefore needs
to do the necessary initialization and housekeeping to prepare the server to
accept calls from clients. This method is not a remote method, which means that
it cannot be invoked from a different Java virtual machine. Because the main
method is declared static, the method is not associated with an object at all but
rather with the class ComputeEngine.
Creating and Installing a Security Manager

The main method's first task is to create and install a security manager, which
protects access to system resources from untrusted downloaded code running
within the Java virtual machine. A security manager determines whether
downloaded code has access to the local file system or can perform any other
privileged operations.
If an RMI program does not install a security manager, RMI will not download classes (other
than from the local class path) for objects received as arguments or return values of remote
method invocations. This restriction ensures that the operations performed by downloaded
code are subject to a security policy.
Here's the code that creates and installs a security manager:
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}
Making the Remote Object Available to Clients

Next, the main method creates an instance of ComputeEngine and exports it to the
RMI runtime with the following statements:
Compute engine = new ComputeEngine();
Compute stub =
(Compute) UnicastRemoteObject.exportObject(engine, 0);
The static UnicastRemoteObject.exportObject method exports the supplied remote object so

that it can receive invocations of its remote methods from remote clients. The second
argument, an int, specifies which TCP port to use to listen for incoming remote invocation
requests for the object. It is common to use the value zero, which specifies the use of an
anonymous port. The actual port will then be chosen at runtime by RMI or the underlying
operating system. However, a non-zero value can also be used to specify a specific port to
use for listening. Once the exportObject invocation has returned successfully, the
ComputeEngine remote object is ready to process incoming remote invocations.
The exportObject method returns a stub for the exported remote object. Note that the type of
the variable stub must be Compute, not ComputeEngine, because the stub for a remote object
only implements the remote interfaces that the exported remote object implements.
The exportObject method declares that it can throw a RemoteException, which is a checked
exception type. The main method handles this exception with its try/catch block. If the
exception were not handled in this way, RemoteException would have to be declared in the
throws clause of the main method. An attempt to export a remote object can throw a
RemoteException if the necessary communication resources are not available, such as if the
requested port is bound for some other purpose.
Before a client can invoke a method on a remote object, it must first obtain a reference to the
remote object. Obtaining a reference can be done in the same way that any other object
reference is obtained in a program, such as by getting the reference as part of the return
value of a method or as part of a data structure that contains such a reference.
The system provides a particular type of remote object, the RMI registry, for finding
references to other remote objects. The RMI registry is a simple remote object naming
service that enables clients to obtain a reference to a remote object by name. The registry is
typically only used to locate the first remote object that an RMI client needs to use. That first
remote object might then provide support for finding other objects.
The java.rmi.registry.Registry remote interface is the API for binding (or registering) and
looking up remote objects in the registry. The java.rmi.registry.LocateRegistry class
provides static methods for synthesizing a remote reference to a registry at a particular
network address (host and port). These methods create the remote reference object
containing the specified network address without performing any remote communication.
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LocateRegistry also provides static methods for creating a new registry in the current Java
virtual machine, although this example does not use those methods. Once a remote object is
registered with an RMI registry on the local host, clients on any host can look up the remote
object by name, obtain its reference, and then invoke remote methods on the object. The
registry can be shared by all servers running on a host, or an individual server process can
create and use its own registry.
The ComputeEngine class creates a name for the object with the following statement:
The code then adds the name to the RMI registry running on the server. This step is done
later with the following statements:
Registry registry = LocateRegistry.getRegistry();

registry.rebind(name, stub);
This rebind invocation makes a remote call to the RMI registry on the local host. Like any
remote call, this call can result in a RemoteException being thrown, which is handled by the
catch block at the end of the main method.
Note the following about the Registry.rebind invocation:
• The no-argument overload of LocateRegistry.getRegistry synthesizes a

reference to a registry on the local host and on the default registry port,
1099. You must use an overload that has an int parameter if the registry is
created on a port other than 1099.
• When a remote invocation on the registry is made, a stub for the remote
object is passed instead of a copy of the remote object itself. Remote
implementation objects, such as instances of ComputeEngine, never leave the
Java virtual machine in which they were created. Thus, when a client
performs a lookup in a server's remote object registry, a copy of the stub is
returned. Remote objects in such cases are thus effectively passed by
(remote) reference rather than by value.
• For security reasons, an application can only bind, unbind, or rebind remote
object references with a registry running on the same host. This restriction
prevents a remote client from removing or overwriting any of the entries in
a server's registry. A lookup, however, can be requested from any host,
local or remote.
Once the server has registered with the local RMI registry, it prints a message indicating that
it is ready to start handling calls. Then, the main method completes. It is not necessary to
have a thread wait to keep the server alive. As long as there is a reference to the
ComputeEngine object in another Java virtual machine, local or remote, the ComputeEngine
object will not be shut down or garbage collected. Because the program binds a reference to
55
the ComputeEngine in the registry, it is reachable from a remote client, the registry itself. The
RMI system keeps the ComputeEngine's process running. The ComputeEngine is available to
accept calls and won't be reclaimed until its binding is removed from the registry and no
remote clients hold a remote reference to the ComputeEngine object.
The final piece of code in the ComputeEngine.main method handles any exception that might
arise. The only checked exception type that could be thrown in the code is RemoteException,
either by the UnicastRemoteObject.exportObject invocation or by the registry rebind
invocation. In either case, the program cannot do much more than exit after printing an error
message. In some distributed applications, recovering from the failure to make a remote
invocation is possible. For example, the application could attempt to retry the operation or
choose another server to continue the operation.
Creating a Client Program

The compute engine is a relatively simple program: it runs tasks that are handed to it. The clients for
the compute engine are more complex. A client needs to call the compute engine, but it also has to
define the task to be performed by the compute engine.
Two separate classes make up the client in our example. The first class, ComputePi, looks up and
invokes a Compute object. The second class, Pi, implements the Task interface and defines the work to
be done by the compute engine. The job of the Pi class is to compute the value of to some number of
decimal places.
The non-remote Task interface is defined as follows:
package compute;
public interface Task<T> {

T execute();
}
The code that invokes a Compute object's methods must obtain a reference to that object, create a Task
object, and then request that the task be executed. The definition of the task class Pi is shown later. A
Pi object is constructed with a single argument, the desired precision of the result. The result of the
task execution is a java.math.BigDecimal representing calculated to the specified precision.
Here is the source code for client.ComputePi, the main client class:
package client;
import java.rmi.registry.LocateRegistry;
import java.rmi.registry.Registry;
import java.math.BigDecimal;
import compute.Compute;
public class ComputePi {

public static void main(String args[]) {
56
}
try {
Registry registry = LocateRegistry.getRegistry(args[0]);
Compute comp = (Compute) registry.lookup(name);
Pi task = new Pi(Integer.parseInt(args[1]));
BigDecimal pi = comp.executeTask(task);
System.out.println(pi);
} catch (Exception e) {
System.err.println("ComputePi exception:");
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
Like the ComputeEngine server, the client begins by installing a security manager. This step is
necessary because the process of receiving the server remote object's stub could require downloading
class definitions from the server. For RMI to download classes, a security manager must be in force.
After installing a security manager, the client constructs a name to use to look up a Compute remote
object, using the same name used by ComputeEngine to bind its remote object. Also, the client uses the
LocateRegistry.getRegistry API to synthesize a remote reference to the registry on the server's
host. The value of the first command-line argument, args[0], is the name of the remote host on which
the Compute object runs. The client then invokes the lookup method on the registry to look up the
remote object by name in the server host's registry. The particular overload of
LocateRegistry.getRegistry used, which has a single String parameter, returns a reference to a
registry at the named host and the default registry port, 1099. You must use an overload that has an
int parameter if the registry is created on a port other than 1099.
Next, the client creates a new Pi object, passing to the Pi constructor the value of the second
command-line argument, args[1], parsed as an integer. This argument indicates the number of
decimal places to use in the calculation. Finally, the client invokes the executeTask method of the
Compute remote object. The object passed into the executeTask invocation returns an object of type
BigDecimal, which the program stores in the variable result. Finally, the program prints the result.
The following figure depicts the flow of messages among the ComputePi client, the rmiregistry, and
the ComputeEngine.
The Pi class implements the Task interface and computes the value of to a specified number of
decimal places. For this example, the actual algorithm is unimportant. What is important is that the
algorithm is computationally expensive, meaning that you would want to have it executed on a capable
server.
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Here is the source code for client.Pi, the class that implements the Task interface:
package client;
import compute.Task;
import java.io.Serializable;
import java.math.BigDecimal;
public class Pi implements Task<BigDecimal>, Serializable {
private static final long serialVersionUID = 227L;
/** constants used in pi computation */

private static final BigDecimal FOUR =
BigDecimal.valueOf(4);
/** rounding mode to use during pi computation */

private static final int roundingMode =
BigDecimal.ROUND_HALF_EVEN;
/** digits of precision after the decimal point */

private final int digits;
/**
* Construct a task to calculate pi to the specified
* precision.
*/
public Pi(int digits) {
this.digits = digits;
}
/**
* Calculate pi.
*/
public BigDecimal execute() {
return computePi(digits);
}
/**
* Compute the value of pi to the specified number of
* digits after the decimal point. The value is
* computed using Machin's formula:
*
* pi/4 = 4*arctan(1/5) - arctan(1/239)
*
* and a power series expansion of arctan(x) to
* sufficient precision.
*/
public static BigDecimal computePi(int digits) {
int scale = digits + 5;
BigDecimal arctan1_5 = arctan(5, scale);
BigDecimal arctan1_239 = arctan(239, scale);
BigDecimal pi = arctan1_5.multiply(FOUR).subtract(
arctan1_239).multiply(FOUR);
return pi.setScale(digits,
BigDecimal.ROUND_HALF_UP);
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}
/**
* Compute the value, in radians, of the arctangent of
* the inverse of the supplied integer to the specified
* number of digits after the decimal point. The value
* is computed using the power series expansion for the
* arc tangent:
*
* arctan(x) = x - (x^3)/3 + (x^5)/5 - (x^7)/7 +
* (x^9)/9 ...
*/
public static BigDecimal arctan(int inverseX,
int scale)
{
BigDecimal result, numer, term;
BigDecimal invX = BigDecimal.valueOf(inverseX);
BigDecimal invX2 =
BigDecimal.valueOf(inverseX * inverseX);
numer = BigDecimal.ONE.divide(invX,
scale, roundingMode);
result = numer;
int i = 1;
do {
numer =
numer.divide(invX2, scale, roundingMode);
int denom = 2 * i + 1;
term =
numer.divide(BigDecimal.valueOf(denom),
scale, roundingMode);
if ((i % 2) != 0) {
result = result.subtract(term);
} else {
result = result.add(term);
}
i++;
} while (term.compareTo(BigDecimal.ZERO) != 0);
return result;
}
}
Note that all serializable classes, whether they implement the Serializable interface directly or
indirectly, must declare a private static final field named serialVersionUID to guarantee
serialization compatibility between versions. If no previous version of the class has been released, then
the value of this field can be any long value, similar to the 227L used by Pi, as long as the value is
used consistently in future versions. If a previous version of the class has been released without an
explicit serialVersionUID declaration, but serialization compatibility with that version is important,
then the default implicitly computed value for the previous version must be used for the value of the
new version's explicit declaration. The serialver tool can be run against the previous version to
determine the default computed value for it.
The most interesting feature of this example is that the Compute implementation object never needs the
Pi class's definition until a Pi object is passed in as an argument to the executeTask method. At that
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point, the code for the class is loaded by RMI into the Compute object's Java virtual machine, the
execute method is invoked, and the task's code is executed. The result, which in the case of the Pi
task is a BigDecimal object, is handed back to the calling client, where it is used to print the result of
the computation.
The fact that the supplied Task object computes the value of Pi is irrelevant to the ComputeEngine
object. You could also implement a task that, for example, generates a random prime number by using
a probabilistic algorithm. That task would also be computationally intensive and therefore a good
candidate for passing to the ComputeEngine, but it would require very different code. This code could
also be downloaded when the Task object is passed to a Compute object. In just the way that the
algorithm for computing is brought in when needed, the code that generates the random prime
number would be brought in when needed. The Compute object knows only that each object it receives
implements the execute method. The Compute object does not know, and does not need to know, what
the implementation does.
Compiling and Running the Example

Now that the code for the compute engine example has been written, it needs to
be compiled and run.
Compiling the Example Programs
In this section, you learn how to compile the server and the client programs that
make up the compute engine example.
Running the Example Programs
Finally, you run the server and client programs and consequently compute the
value of .
Compiling the Example Programs
In a real-world scenario in which a service such as the compute engine is
deployed, a developer would likely create a Java Archive (JAR) file that contains
the Compute and Task interfaces for server classes to implement and client
programs to use. Next, a developer, perhaps the same developer of the interface
JAR file, would write an implementation of the Compute interface and deploy that
service on a machine available to clients. Developers of client programs can use
the Compute and the Task interfaces, contained in the JAR file, and independently
develop a task and client program that uses a Compute service.
In this section, you learn how to set up the JAR file, server classes, and client classes. You
will see that the client's Pi class will be downloaded to the server at runtime. Also, the
Compute and Task interfaces will be downloaded from the server to the registry at runtime.
This example separates the interfaces, remote object implementation, and client code into
three packages:
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• compute – Compute and Task interfaces

• engine – ComputeEngine implementation class
• client – ComputePi client code and Pi task implementation
First, you need to build the interface JAR file to provide to server and client developers.
Building a JAR File of Interface Classes

First, you need to compile the interface source files in the compute package and
then build a JAR file that contains their class files. Assume that user waldo has
written these interfaces and placed the source files in the directory
c:\home\waldo\src\compute on Windows or the directory /home/waldo/src/compute on
Solaris OS or Linux. Given these paths, you can use the following commands to
compile the interfaces and create the JAR file:
Microsoft Windows:
cd c:\home\waldo\src
javac compute\Compute.java compute\Task.java
jar cvf compute.jar compute\*.class
Solaris OS or Linux:
cd /home/waldo/src
javac compute/Compute.java compute/Task.java
jar cvf compute.jar compute/*.class
The jar command displays the following output due to the -v option:
added manifest
adding: compute/Compute.class(in = 307) (out= 201)(deflated 34%)
adding: compute/Task.class(in = 217) (out= 149)(deflated 31%)
Now, you can distribute the compute.jar file to developers of server and client applications so
that they can make use of the interfaces.
After you build either server-side or client-side classes with the javac compiler, if any of those
classes will need to be dynamically downloaded by other Java virtual machines, you must
ensure that their class files are placed in a network-accessible location. In this example, for
Solaris OS or Linux this location is /home/user/public_html/classes because many web
servers allow the accessing of a user's public_html directory through an HTTP URL
constructed as http://host/~user/. If your web server does not support this convention, you
could use a different location in the web server's hierarchy, or you could use a file URL
instead. The file URLs take the form file:/home/user/public_html/classes/ on Solaris OS
or Linux and the form file:/c:/home/user/public_html/classes/ on Windows. You may
also select another type of URL, as appropriate.
The network accessibility of the class files enables the RMI runtime to download code when
needed. Rather than defining its own protocol for code downloading, RMI uses URL protocols
supported by the Java platform (for example, HTTP) to download code. Note that using a full,
heavyweight web server to serve these class files is unnecessary. For example, a simple
61
HTTP server that provides the functionality needed to make classes available for
downloading in RMI through HTTP can be found at
http://java.sun.com/javase/technologies/core/basic/rmi/class-server.zip.
Building the Server Classes

The engine package contains only one server-side implementation class,
ComputeEngine, the implementation of the remote interface Compute.
Assume that user ann, the developer of the ComputeEngine class, has placed
ComputeEngine.java in the directory c:\home\ann\src\engine on Windows or the directory
/home/ann/src/engine on Solaris OS or Linux. She is deploying the class files for clients to
download in a subdirectory of her public_html directory, c:\home\ann\public_html\classes
on Windows or /home/ann/public_html/classes on Solaris OS or Linux. This location is
accessible through some web servers as http://host:port/~ann/classes/.
The ComputeEngine class depends on the Compute and Task interfaces, which are contained in
the compute.jar JAR file. Therefore, you need the compute.jar file in your class path when
you build the server classes. Assume that the compute.jar file is located in the directory
c:\home\ann\public_html\classes on Windows or the directory
/home/ann/public_html/classes on Solaris OS or Linux. Given these paths, you can use the
following commands to build the server classes:
Microsoft Windows:
cd c:\home\ann\src
javac -cp c:\home\ann\public_html\classes\compute.jar
engine\ComputeEngine.java
cd /home/ann/src
javac -cp /home/ann/public_html/classes/compute.jar
engine/ComputeEngine.java
The stub class for ComputeEngine implements the Compute interface, which refers to the Task
interface. So, the class definitions for those two interfaces need to be network-accessible for
the stub to be received by other Java virtual machines such as the registry's Java virtual
machine. The client Java virtual machine will already have these interfaces in its class path,
so it does not actually need to download their definitions. The compute.jar file under the
public_html directory can serve this purpose.
Now, the compute engine is ready to deploy. You could do that now, or you could wait until
after you have built the client.
Building the Client Classes

The client package contains two classes, ComputePi, the main client program, and
Pi, the client's implementation of the Task interface.
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Assume that user jones, the developer of the client classes, has placed ComputePi.java and
Pi.java in the directory c:\home\jones\src\client on Windows or the directory
/home/jones/src/client on Solaris OS or Linux. He is deploying the class files for the
compute engine to download in a subdirectory of his public_html directory,
c:\home\jones\public_html\classes on Windows or /home/jones/public_html/classes on
Solaris OS or Linux. This location is accessible through some web servers as
http://host:port/~jones/classes/.
The client classes depend on the Compute and Task interfaces, which are contained in the
compute.jar JAR file. Therefore, you need the compute.jar file in your class path when you
build the client classes. Assume that the compute.jar file is located in the directory
c:\home\jones\public_html\classes on Windows or the directory
/home/jones/public_html/classes on Solaris OS or Linux. Given these paths, you can use
the following commands to build the client classes:
Microsoft Windows:
cd c:\home\jones\src
javac -cp c:\home\jones\public_html\classes\compute.jar
client\ComputePi.java client\Pi.java
mkdir c:\home\jones\public_html\classes\client
cp client\Pi.class
c:\home\jones\public_html\classes\client
cd /home/jones/src
javac -cp /home/jones/public_html/classes/compute.jar
client/ComputePi.java client/Pi.java
mkdir /home/jones/public_html/classes/client
cp client/Pi.class
/home/jones/public_html/classes/client
Only the Pi class needs to be placed in the directory public_html\classes\client because

only the Pi class needs to be available for downloading to the compute engine's Java virtual
machine. Now, you can run the server and then the client.
Running the Example Programs
A Note About Security

The server and client programs run with a security manager installed. When you
run either program, you need to specify a security policy file so that the code is
granted the security permissions it needs to run. Here is an example policy file to
use with the server program:
grant codeBase "file:/home/ann/src/" {
permission java.security.AllPermission;
};
Here is an example policy file to use with the client program:
grant codeBase "file:/home/jones/src/" {

63
permission java.security.AllPermission;
};
For both example policy files, all permissions are granted to the classes in the program's local
class path, because the local application code is trusted, but no permissions are granted to
code downloaded from other locations. Therefore, the compute engine server restricts the
tasks that it executes (whose code is not known to be trusted and might be hostile) from
performing any operations that require security permissions. The example client's Pi task
does not require any permissions to execute.
In this example, the policy file for the server program is named server.policy, and the policy
file for the client program is named client.policy.
Starting the Server

Before starting the compute engine, you need to start the RMI registry. The RMI
registry is a simple server-side bootstrap naming facility that enables remote
clients to obtain a reference to an initial remote object. It can be started with the
rmiregistry command. Before you execute rmiregistry, you must make sure that
the shell or window in which you will run rmiregistry either has no CLASSPATH
environment variable set or has a CLASSPATH environment variable that does not
include the path to any classes that you want downloaded to clients of your
remote objects.
To start the registry on the server, execute the rmiregistry command. This command
produces no output and is typically run in the background. For this example, the registry is
started on the host zaphod.
Microsoft Windows (use javaw if start is not available):

start rmiregistry
rmiregistry &
By default, the registry runs on port 1099. To start the registry on a different port, specify the
port number on the command line. Do not forget to unset your CLASSPATH environment
variable.
Microsoft Windows:
start rmiregistry 2001
rmiregistry 2001 &
Once the registry is started, you can start the server. You need to make sure that both the
compute.jar file and the remote object implementation class are in your class path. When
you start the compute engine, you need to specify, using the java.rmi.server.codebase
property, where the server's classes are network accessible. In this example, the server-side
64
classes to be made available for downloading are the Compute and Task interfaces, which are
available in the compute.jar file in the public_html\classes directory of user ann. The
compute engine server is started on the host zaphod, the same host on which the registry was
started.
Microsoft Windows:
java -cp c:\home\ann\src;c:\home\ann\public_html\classes\compute.jar
-Djava.rmi.server.codebase=file:/c:/home/ann/public_html/classes/compute.jar
-Djava.rmi.server.hostname=zaphod.east.sun.com
-Djava.security.policy=server.policy
engine.ComputeEngine
java -cp /home/ann/src:/home/ann/public_html/classes/compute.jar
-Djava.rmi.server.codebase=http://zaphod/~ann/classes/compute.jar
-Djava.rmi.server.hostname=zaphod.east.sun.com
-Djava.security.policy=server.policy
engine.ComputeEngine
The above java command defines the following system properties:
• The java.rmi.server.codebase property specifies the location, a codebase

URL, from which the definitions for classes originating from this server can
be downloaded. If the codebase specifies a directory hierarchy (as opposed
to a JAR file), you must include a trailing slash at the end of the codebase
URL.
• The java.rmi.server.hostname property specifies the host name or address to
put in the stubs for remote objects exported in this Java virtual machine.
This value is the host name or address used by clients when they attempt
to communicate remote method invocations. By default, the RMI
implementation uses the server's IP address as indicated by the
java.net.InetAddress.getLocalHost API. However, sometimes, this address is
not appropriate for all clients and a fully qualified host name would be more
effective. To ensure that RMI uses a host name (or IP address) for the
server that is routable from all potential clients, set the
java.rmi.server.hostname property.
• The java.security.policy property is used to specify the policy file that
contains the permissions you intend to grant.
Starting the Client

Once the registry and the compute engine are running, you can start the client,
specifying the following:
• The location where the client serves its classes (the Pi class) by using the
java.rmi.server.codebase property
65
• The java.security.policy property, which is used to specify the security

policy file that contains the permissions you intend to grant to various
pieces of code
• As command-line arguments, the host name of the server (so that the
client knows where to locate the Compute remote object) and the number of
decimal places to use in the calculation
Start the client on another host (a host named ford, for example) as follows:
Microsoft Windows:
java -cp c:\home\jones\src;c:\home\jones\public_html\classes\compute.jar
-Djava.rmi.server.codebase=file:/c:/home/jones/public_html/classes/
-Djava.security.policy=client.policy
client.ComputePi zaphod.east.sun.com 45
java -cp /home/jones/src:/home/jones/public_html/classes/compute.jar
-Djava.rmi.server.codebase=http://ford/~jones/classes/
-Djava.security.policy=client.policy
client.ComputePi zaphod.east.sun.com 45
Note that the class path is set on the command line so that the interpreter can find the client
classes and the JAR file containing the interfaces. Also note that the value of the
java.rmi.server.codebase property, which specifies a directory hierarchy, ends with a
trailing slash.
After you start the client, the following output is displayed:
3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399
The following figure illustrates where the rmiregistry, the ComputeEngine server, and the
ComputePi client obtain classes during program execution.
When the ComputeEngine server binds its remote object reference in the registry, the registry
downloads the Compute and Task interfaces on which the stub class depends. These classes
are downloaded from either the ComputeEngine server's web server or file system, depending
on the type of codebase URL used when starting the server.
66
Because the ComputePi client has both the Compute and the Task interfaces available in its
class path, it loads their definitions from its class path, not from the server's codebase.
Finally, the Pi class is loaded into the ComputeEngine server's Java virtual machine when the
Pi object is passed in the executeTask remote call to the ComputeEngine object. The Pi class
is loaded by the server from either the client's web server or file system, depending on the
type of codebase URL used when starting the client.
Swings
What is Swing?
To create a Java program with a graphical user interface (GUI), you'll want to
learn about Swing.
The Swing toolkit includes a rich set of components for building GUIs and adding interactivity
to Java applications. Swing includes all the components you would expect from a modern
toolkit: table controls, list controls, tree controls, buttons, and labels.
Swing is far from a simple component toolkit, however. It includes rich undo support, a highly
customizable text package, integrated internationalization and accessibility support. To truly
leverage the cross-platform capabilities of the Java platform, Swing supports numerous look
and feels, including the ability to create your own look and feel. The ability to create a custom
look and feel is made easier with Synth, a look and feel specifically designed to be
customized. Swing wouldn't be a component toolkit without the basic user interface primitives
such as drag and drop, event handling, customizable painting, and window management.
Swing is part of the Java Foundation Classes (JFC). The JFC also include other features
important to a GUI program, such as the ability to add rich graphics functionality and the
ability to create a program that can work in different languages and by users with different
input devices.
The following list shows some of the features that Swing and the Java Foundation Classes
provide.
Swing GUI Components

The Swing toolkit includes a rich array of components: from basic components,
such as buttons and check boxes, to rich and complex components, such as
tables and text. Even deceptively simple components, such as text fields, offer
sophisticated functionality, such as formatted text input or password field
behavior. There are file browsers and dialogs to suit most needs, and if not,
customization is possible. If none of Swing's provided components are exactly
what you need, you can leverage the basic Swing component functionality to
create your own.
Java 2D API
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To make your application stand out; convey information visually; or add figures,
images, or animation to your GUI, you'll want to use the Java 2D API. Because TM
Swing is built on the 2D package, it's trivial to make use of 2D within Swing
components. Adding images, drop shadows, compositing — it's easy with Java
2D.
Pluggable Look-and-Feel Support
Any program that uses Swing components has a choice of look and feel. The JFC
classes shipped by Sun and Apple provide a look and feel that matches that of
the platform. The Synth package allows you to create your own look and feel.
The GTK+ look and feel makes hundreds of existing look and feels available to
Swing programs.
A program can specify the look and feel of the platform it is running on, or it can specify to
always use the Java look and feel, and without recompiling, it will just work. Or, you can
ignore the issue and let the UI manager sort it out.
Data Transfer
Data transfer, via cut, copy, paste, and drag and drop, is essential to
almost any application. Support for data transfer is built into Swing and
works between Swing components within an application, between Java
applications, and between Java and native applications.
Internationalization
This feature allows developers to build applications that can interact with
users worldwide in their own languages and cultural conventions.
Applications can be created that accept input in languages that use
thousands of different characters, such as Japanese, Chinese, or Korean.
Swing's layout managers make it easy to honor a particular orientation required by the
UI. For example, the UI will appear right to left in a locale where the text flows right to
left. This support is automatic: You need only code the UI once and then it will work for
left to right and right to left, as well as honor the appropriate size of components that
change as you localize the text.
Accessibility API
People with disabilities use special software — assistive technologies — that
mediates the user experience for them. Such software needs to obtain a
wealth of information about the running application in order to represent it
in alternate media: for a screen reader to read the screen with synthetic
speech or render it via a Braille display, for a screen magnifier to track the
caret and keyboard focus, for on-screen keyboards to present dynamic
keyboards of the menu choices and toolbar items and dialog controls, and
for voice control systems to know what the user can control with his or her
voice. The accessibility API enables these assistive technologies to get the
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information they need, and to programmatically manipulate the elements

that make up the graphical user interface.
Undo Framework API
Swing's undo framework allows developers to provide support for undo and
redo. Undo support is built in to Swing's text component. For other
components, Swing supports an unlimited number of actions to undo and
redo, and is easily adapted to an application. For example, you could easily
enable undo to add and remove elements from a table.
Flexible Deployment Support
If you want your program to run within a browser window, you can create it
as an applet and run it using Java Plug-in, which supports a variety of
browsers, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari. If you want to
create a program that can be launched from a browser, you can do this
with Java Web Start. Of course, your application can also run outside of
browser as a standard desktop application.
For more information on deploying an application, see the Deployment trail in this
tutorial.
This trail provides an overview of Swing capabilities, beginning with a demo that
showcases many of these features. When you are ready to begin coding, the Creating
a GUI with JFC/Swing trail provides the programming techniques to take advantage of
these features.
Next, a demo shows many of these features.
Using Top-Level Containers

As we mentioned before, Swing provides three generally useful top-level
container classes: JFrame, JDialog, and JApplet. When using these classes, you
should keep these facts in mind:
• To appear onscreen, every GUI component must be part of a containment

hierarchy. A containment hierarchy is a tree of components that has a top-
level container as its root. We'll show you one in a bit.
• Each GUI component can be contained only once. If a component is already
in a container and you try to add it to another container, the component
will be removed from the first container and then added to the second.
• Each top-level container has a content pane that, generally speaking,
contains (directly or indirectly) the visible components in that top-level
container's GUI.
• You can optionally add a menu bar to a top-level container. The menu bar
is by convention positioned within the top-level container, but outside the
content pane. Some look and feels, such as the Mac OS look and feel, give
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you the option of placing the menu bar in another place more appropriate
for the look and feel, such as at the top of the screen.
Note: Although JInternalFrame mimics JFrame, internal frames aren't actually top-
level containers.
Here's a picture of a frame created by an application. The frame contains a green
menu bar (with no menus) and, in the frame's content pane, a large blank,
yellow label.
You can find the entire source for this example in TopLevelDemo.java. Although the example
uses a JFrame in a standalone application, the same concepts apply to JApplets and
JDialogs.
Here's the containment hierarchy for this example's GUI:
As the ellipses imply, we left some details out of this diagram. We reveal the missing details a
bit later. Here are the topics this section discusses:
• Top-Level Containers and Containment Hierarchies

• Adding Components to the Content Pane
• Adding a Menu Bar
• The Root Pane (a.k.a. The Missing Details)
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Top-Level Containers and Containment Hierarchies

Each program that uses Swing components has at least one top-level container.
This top-level container is the root of a containment hierarchy — the hierarchy
that contains all of the Swing components that appear inside the top-level
container.
As a rule, a standalone application with a Swing-based GUI has at least one containment
hierarchy with a JFrame as its root. For example, if an application has one main window and
two dialogs, then the application has three containment hierarchies, and thus three top-level
containers. One containment hierarchy has a JFrame as its root, and each of the other two
has a JDialog object as its root.
A Swing-based applet has at least one containment hierarchy, exactly one of which is rooted
by a JApplet object. For example, an applet that brings up a dialog has two containment
hierarchies. The components in the browser window are in a containment hierarchy rooted by
a JApplet object. The dialog has a containment hierarchy rooted by a JDialog object.
Adding Components to the Content Pane

Here's the code that the preceding example uses to get a frame's content pane
and add the yellow label to it:
frame.getContentPane().add(yellowLabel, BorderLayout.CENTER);
As the code shows, you find the content pane of a top-level container by calling
the getContentPane method. The default content pane is a simple intermediate
container that inherits from JComponent, and that uses a BorderLayout as its layout
manager.
It's easy to customize the content pane — setting the layout manager or adding a border, for
example. However, there is one tiny gotcha. The getContentPane method returns a Container
object, not a JComponent object. This means that if you want to take advantage of the content
pane's JComponent features, you need to either typecast the return value or create your own
component to be the content pane. Our examples generally take the second approach, since
it's a little cleaner. Another approach we sometimes take is to simply add a customized
component to the content pane, covering the content pane completely.
Note that the default layout manager for JPanel is FlowLayout; you'll probably want to change
it.
To make a component the content pane, use the top-level container's setContentPane
method. For example:
//Create a panel and add components to it.

JPanel contentPane = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
contentPane.setBorder(someBorder);
contentPane.add(someComponent, BorderLayout.CENTER);
contentPane.add(anotherComponent, BorderLayout.PAGE_END);
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topLevelContainer.setContentPane(contentPane);
Note: As a convenience, the add method and its variants, remove and setLayout
have been overridden to forward to the contentPane as necessary. This means you
can write
frame.add(child);
and the child will be added to the contentPane.
Note that only these three methods do this. This means that getLayout() will not
return the layout set with setLayout().
Adding a Menu Bar

In theory, all top-level containers can hold a menu bar. In practice, however,
menu bars usually appear only in frames and applets. To add a menu bar to a
top-level container, create a JMenuBar object, populate it with menus, and then
call setJMenuBar. The TopLevelDemo adds a menu bar to its frame with this code:
frame.setJMenuBar(greenMenuBar);
For more information about implementing menus and menu bars, see How to Use
Menus.
The Root Pane

Each top-level container relies on a reclusive intermediate container called the
root pane. The root pane manages the content pane and the menu bar, along
with a couple of other containers. You generally don't need to know about root
panes to use Swing components. However, if you ever need to intercept mouse
clicks or paint over multiple components, you should get acquainted with root
panes.
Here's a list of the components that a root pane provides to a frame (and to every other top-
level container):
We've already told you about the content pane and the optional menu bar. The
two other components that a root pane adds are a layered pane and a glass
pane. The layered pane contains the menu bar and content pane, and enables Z-
ordering of other components. The glass pane is often used to intercept input
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events occuring over the top-level container, and can also be used to paint over
multiple components.
For more details, see How to Use Root Panes.
JAAS
Internationalization
Introduction
Internationalization is the process of designing an application so that it can be
adapted to various languages and regions without engineering changes.
Sometimes the term internationalization is abbreviated as i18n, because there
are 18 letters between the first "i" and the last "n."
An internationalized program has the following characteristics:
• With the addition of localized data, the same executable can run worldwide.
• Textual elements, such as status messages and the GUI component labels,
are not hardcoded in the program. Instead they are stored outside the
source code and retrieved dynamically.
• Support for new languages does not require recompilation.
• Culturally-dependent data, such as dates and currencies, appear in formats
that conform to the end user's region and language.
• It can be localized quickly.
Localization is the process of adapting software for a specific region or language by adding
locale-specific components and translating text. The term localization is often abbreviated as
l10n, because there are 10 letters between the "l" and the "n."
The primary task of localization is translating the user interface elements and documentation.
Localization involves not only changing the language interaction, but also other relevant
changes such as display of numbers, dates, currency, and so on. Other types of data, such
as sounds and images, may require localization if they are culturally sensitive. The better
internationalized an application is, the easier it is to localize it for a particular language and
character encoding scheme.
Internationalization may seem a bit daunting at first. Reading the following sections will help
ease you into the subject.
Before Internationalization
Suppose that you've written a program that displays three messages, as follows:
public class NotI18N {
static public void main(String[] args) {

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System.out.println("Hello.");
System.out.println("How are you?");
System.out.println("Goodbye.");
}
}
You've decided that this program needs to display these same messages for
people living in France and Germany. Unfortunately your programming staff is
not multilingual, so you'll need help translating the messages into French and
German. Since the translators aren't programmers, you'll have to move the
messages out of the source code and into text files that the translators can edit.
Also, the program must be flexible enough so that it can display the messages in
other languages, but right now no one knows what those languages will be.
It looks like the program needs to be internationalized.
After Internationalization
The source code for the internationalized program follows. Notice that the text of
the messages is not hardcoded.
import java.util.*;
public class I18NSample {
static public void main(String[] args) {
String language;
String country;
if (args.length != 2) {
language = new String("en");
country = new String("US");
} else {
language = new String(args[0]);
country = new String(args[1]);
}
Locale currentLocale;
ResourceBundle messages;
currentLocale = new Locale(language, country);
messages = ResourceBundle.getBundle("MessagesBundle",
currentLocale);
System.out.println(messages.getString("greetings"));
System.out.println(messages.getString("inquiry"));
System.out.println(messages.getString("farewell"));
}
}
To compile and run this program, you need these source files:
• I18NSample.java
• MessagesBundle.properties
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• MessagesBundle_de_DE.properties
• MessagesBundle_en_US.properties
• MessagesBundle_fr_FR.properties
Running the Sample Program

The internationalized program is flexible; it allows the end user to specify a
language and a country on the command line. In the following example the
language code is fr (French) and the country code is FR (France), so the program
displays the messages in French:
% java I18NSample fr FR
Bonjour.
Comment allez-vous?
Au revoir.
In the next example the language code is en (English) and the country code is US
(United States) so the program displays the messages in English:
% java I18NSample en US
Hello.
How are you?
Goodbye.
Internationalizing the Sample Program

If you look at the internationalized source code, you'll notice that the hardcoded
English messages have been removed. Because the messages are no longer
hardcoded and because the language code is specified at run time, the same
executable can be distributed worldwide. No recompilation is required for
localization. The program has been internationalized.
You may be wondering what happened to the text of the messages or what the language and
country codes mean. Don't worry. You'll learn about these concepts as you step through the
process of internationalizing the sample program.
1. Create the Properties Files

A properties file stores information about the characteristics of a program or
environment. A properties file is in plain-text format. You can create the file with
just about any text editor.
In the example the properties files store the translatable text of the messages to be
displayed. Before the program was internationalized, the English version of this text was
hardcoded in the System.out.println statements. The default properties file, which is called
MessagesBundle.properties, contains the following lines:
greetings = Hello
farewell = Goodbye
inquiry = How are you?
Now that the messages are in a properties file, they can be translated into
various languages. No changes to the source code are required. The French
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translator has created a properties file called MessagesBundle_fr_FR.properties,

which contains these lines:
greetings = Bonjour.
farewell = Au revoir.
inquiry = Comment allez-vous?
Notice that the values to the right side of the equal sign have been translated but
that the keys on the left side have not been changed. These keys must not
change, because they will be referenced when your program fetches the
translated text.
The name of the properties file is important. For example, the name of the
MessagesBundle_fr_FR.properties file contains the fr language code and the FR country
code. These codes are also used when creating a Locale object.
2. Define the Locale

The Locale object identifies a particular language and country. The following
statement defines a Locale for which the language is English and the country is
the United States:
aLocale = new Locale("en","US");
The next example creates Locale objects for the French language in Canada and in France:
caLocale = new Locale("fr","CA");

frLocale = new Locale("fr","FR");
The program is flexible. Instead of using hardcoded language and country codes, the
program gets them from the command line at run time:
String language = new String(args[0]);

String country = new String(args[1]);
currentLocale = new Locale(language, country);
Locale objects are only identifiers. After defining a Locale, you pass it to other objects that
perform useful tasks, such as formatting dates and numbers. These objects are locale-
sensitive because their behavior varies according to Locale. A ResourceBundle is an
example of a locale-sensitive object.
3. Create a ResourceBundle
ResourceBundle objects contain locale-specific objects. You use ResourceBundle
objects to isolate locale-sensitive data, such as translatable text. In the sample
program the ResourceBundle is backed by the properties files that contain the
message text we want to display.
The ResourceBundle is created as follows:
messages = ResourceBundle.getBundle("MessagesBundle",
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currentLocale);
The arguments passed to the getBundle method identify which properties file will be
accessed. The first argument, MessagesBundle, refers to this family of properties files:
MessagesBundle_en_US.properties
MessagesBundle_fr_FR.properties
MessagesBundle_de_DE.properties
The Locale, which is the second argument of getBundle, specifies which of the
MessagesBundle files is chosen. When the Locale was created, the language code and the
country code were passed to its constructor. Note that the language and country codes follow
MessagesBundle in the names of the properties files.
Now all you have to do is get the translated messages from the ResourceBundle.
4. Fetch the Text from the ResourceBundle

The properties files contain key-value pairs. The values consist of the translated
text that the program will display. You specify the keys when fetching the
translated messages from the ResourceBundle with the getString method. For
example, to retrieve the message identified by the greetings key, you invoke
getString as follows:
String msg1 = messages.getString("greetings");
The sample program uses the key greetings because it reflects the content of the
message, but it could have used another String, such as s1 or msg1. Just
remember that the key is hardcoded in the program and it must be present in the
properties files. If your translators accidentally modify the keys in the properties
files, getString won't be able to find the messages.
Conclusion
That's it. As you can see, internationalizing a program isn't too difficult. It
requires some planning and a little extra coding, but the benefits are enormous.
To provide you with an overview of the internationalization process, the sample
program in this lesson was intentionally kept simple. As you read the lessons that
follow, you'll learn about the more advanced internationalization features of the
Java programming language.
JUnit
JNDI
Java Naming and Directory Interface(TM).
This trail describes JNDITM (Java Naming and Directory Interface) an API to access the directory and
naming services. Here you learn about the basic naming and directory services and how to use JNDI to
write simple applications to use these services. The most popular directory service LDAP is used to
demostrate the use of JNDI to access the directory services.
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Naming and Directory Concepts
Naming Concepts
A fundamental facility in any computing system is the naming service--the means
by which names are associated with objects and objects are found based on their
names. When using almost any computer program or system, you are always
naming one object or another. For example, when you use an electronic mail
system, you must provide the name of the recipient. To access a file in the
computer, you must supply its name. A naming service allows you to look up an
object given its name.
A naming service's primary function is to map people friendly names to objects, such as
addresses, identifiers, or objects typically used by computer programs.
For example, the Internet Domain Name System (DNS) maps machine names to IP
Addresses:
www.sun.com ==> 192.9.48.5.
A file system maps a filename to a file reference that a program can use to access the
contents of the file.
c:\bin\autoexec.bat ==> File Reference
These two examples also illustrate the wide range of scale at which naming services exist--
from naming an object on the Internet to naming a file on the local file system.
Names
To look up an object in a naming system, you supply it the name of the object. The naming
system determines the syntax that the name must follow. This syntax is sometimes called the
naming system's naming convention. A name is made up components. A name's
representation consist of a component separator marking the components of the name.
Naming System Component Seperator Names

UNIX file system "/"
TM
/usr/hello
DNS "." sales.Wiz.COM
LDAP "," and "=" cn=Rosanna Lee, o=Sun, c=US
The UNIX file system's naming convention is that a file is named from its path relative to the
TM
root of the file system, with each component in the path separated from left to right using the
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forward slash character ("/"). The UNIX pathname, /usr/hello, for example, names a file hello in
the file directory usr, which is located in the root of the file system.
DNS naming convention calls for components in the DNS name to be ordered from right to
left and delimited by the dot character ("."). Thus the DNS name sales.Wiz.COM names a DNS
entry with the name sales, relative to the DNS entry Wiz.COM. The DNS entry Wiz.COM, in turn,
names an entry with the name Wiz in the COM entry.
The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) naming convention orders components
from right to left, delimited by the comma character (","). Thus the LDAP name cn=Rosanna Lee,
o=Sun, c=US names an LDAP entry cn=Rosanna Lee, relative to the entry o=Sun, which in turn, is
relative to c=us. LDAP has the further rule that each component of the name must be a
name/value pair with the name and value separated by an equals character ("=").
Bindings
The association of a name with an object is called a binding. A file name is bound
to a file.
The DNS contains bindings that map machine names to IP addresses. An LDAP name is
bound to an LDAP entry.
References and Addresses
Depending on the naming service, some objects cannot be stored directly by the naming
service; that is, a copy of the object cannot be placed inside the naming service. Instead, they
must be stored by reference; that is, a pointer or reference to the object is placed inside the
naming service. A reference represents information about how to access an object. Typically,
it is a compact representation that can be used to communicate with the object, while the
object itself might contain more state information. Using the reference, you can contact the
object and obtain more information about the object.
For example, an airplane object might contain a list of the airplane's passengers and crew, its
flight plan, and fuel and instrument status, and its flight number and departure time. By
contrast, an airplane object reference might contain only its flight number and departure time.
The reference is a much more compact representation of information about the airplane
object and can be used to obtain additional information. A file object, for example, is
accessed using a file reference. A printer object, for example, might contain the state of the
printer, such as its current queue and the amount of paper in the paper tray. A printer object
reference, on the other hand, might contain only information on how to reach the printer, such
as its print server name and printing protocol.
Although in general a reference can contain any arbitrary information, it is useful to refer to its
contents as addresses (or communication end points): specific information about how to
access the object.
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For simplicity, this tutorial uses "object" to refer to both objects and object references when a
distinction between the two is not required.
Context
A context is a set of name-to-object bindings. Every context has an associated naming

convention. A context always provides a lookup (resolution) operation that returns the object,
it typically also provides operations such as those for binding names, unbinding names, and
listing bound names. A name in one context object can be bound to another context object
(called a subcontext) that has the same naming convention.
A file directory, such as /usr, in the UNIX file system represents a context. A file directory
named relative to another file directory represents a subcontext (UNIX users refer to this as a
subdirectory). That is, in a file directory /usr/bin, the directory bin is a subcontext of usr. A DNS
domain, such as COM, represents a context. A DNS domain named relative to another DNS
domain represents a subcontext. For the DNS domain Sun.COM, the DNS domain Sun is a
subcontext of COM.
Finally, an LDAP entry, such as c=us, represents a context. An LDAP entry named relative to
another LDAP entry represents a subcontext. For the LDAP entry o=sun,c=us, the entry o=sun
is a subcontext of c=us.
Naming Systems and Namespaces
A naming system is a connected set of contexts of the same type (they have the same
naming convention) and provides a common set of operations.
A system that implements the DNS is a naming system. A system that communicates using
the LDAP is a naming system.
A naming system provides a naming service to its customers for performing naming-related
operations. A naming service is accessed through its own interface. The DNS offers a
naming service that maps machine names to IP addresses. LDAP offers a naming service
that maps LDAP names to LDAP entries. A file system offers a naming service that maps
filenames to files and directories.
A namespace is the set of all possible names in a naming system. The UNIX file system has
a namespace consisting of all of the names of files and directories in that file system. The
DNS namespace contains names of DNS domains and entries. The LDAP namespace
contains names of LDAP entries.
Directory Concepts
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Many naming services are extended with a directory service. A directory service
associates names with objects and also associates such objects with attributes.
directory service = naming service + objects containing attributes
You not only can look up an object by its name but also get the object's attributes or search
for the object based on its attributes.
An example is the telephone company's directory service. It maps a subscriber's name to his
address and phone number. A computer's directory service is very much like a telephone
company's directory service in that both can be used to store information such as telephone
numbers and addresses. The computer's directory service is much more powerful, however,
because it is available online and can be used to store a variety of information that can be
utilized by users, programs, and even the computer itself and other computers.
A directory object represents an object in a computing environment. A directory object can be

used, for example, to represent a printer, a person, a computer, or a network. A directory
object contains attributes that describe the object that it represents.
Attributes
A directory object can have attributes. For example, a printer might be represented by a
directory object that has as attributes its speed, resolution, and color. A user might be
represented by a directory object that has as attributes the user's e-mail address, various
telephone numbers, postal mail address, and computer account information.
An attribute has an attribute identifier and a set of attribute values. An attribute identifier is a
token that identifies an attribute independent of its values. For example, two different
computer accounts might have a "mail" attribute; "mail" is the attribute identifier. An attribute
value is the contents of the attribute. The email address, for example, might have:
Attribute Identifier : Attribute Value

mail john.smith@somewhere.com
Directories and Directory Services

A directory is a connected set of directory objects. A directory service is a service
that provides operations for creating, adding, removing, and modifying the
attributes associated with objects in a directory. The service is accessed through
its own interface.
Many examples of directory services are possible.
Network Information Service (NIS)

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NIS is a directory service available on the Unix operating system for storing
system-related information, such as that relating to machines, networks,
printers, and users.
Sun Java Directory Server
The Sun Java Directory Server is a general-purpose directory service based
on the Internet standard LDAP
Novell Directory Service (NDS)
NDS is a directory service from Novell that provides information about
many networking services, such as the file and print services.
Search Service
You can look up a directory object by supplying its name to the directory service.
Alternatively, many directories, such as those based on the LDAP, support the
notion of searches. When you search, you can supply not a name but a query
consisting of a logical expression in which you specify the attributes that the
object or objects must have. The query is called a search filter. This style of
searching is sometimes called reverse lookup or content-based searching. The
directory service searches for and returns the objects that satisfy the search
filter.
For example, you can query the directory service to find:
• all users that have the attribute "age" greater than 40 years.
• all machines whose IP address starts with "192.113.50".
Combining Naming and Directory Services

Directories often arrange their objects in a hierarchy. For example, the LDAP
arranges all directory objects in a tree, called a directory information tree (DIT).
Within the DIT, an organization object, for example, might contain group objects
that might in turn contain person objects. When directory objects are arranged in
this way, they play the role of naming contexts in addition to that of containers of
attributes.
Overview of JNDI
The Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI) is an application programming
TM
interface (API) that provides naming and directory functionality to applications

written using the Java programming language. It is defined to be independent of
TM
any specific directory service implementation. Thus a variety of directories -new,

emerging, and already deployed can be accessed in a common way.
Architecture
The JNDI architecture consists of an API and a service provider interface (SPI).
Java applications use the JNDI API to access a variety of naming and directory
services. The SPI enables a variety of naming and directory services to be
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plugged in transparently, thereby allowing the Java application using the JNDI
API to access their services. See the following figure.
Packaging
JNDI is included in the Java SE Platform. To use the JNDI, you must have the
JNDI classes and one or more service providers. The JDK includes service
providers for the following naming/directory services:
• Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)

• Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) Common Object
Services (COS) name service
• Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) Registry
• Domain Name Service (DNS)
Other service providers can be downloaded from the JNDI Web site or obtained from other
vendors.
The JNDI is divided into five packages:
• javax.naming
• javax.naming.directory
• javax.naming.ldap
• javax.naming.event
• javax.naming.spi
The next part of the lesson has a brief description of the JNDI packages.
Naming Package
The javax.naming package contains classes and interfaces for accessing naming
services.
Context
The javax.naming package defines a Context interface, which is the core interface for looking up,
binding/unbinding, renaming objects and creating and destroying subcontexts.
Lookup
The most commonly used operation is lookup(). You supply lookup() the name
of the object you want to look up, and it returns the object bound to that
name.
Bindings
listBindings() returns an enumeration of name-to-object bindings. A binding is
a tuple containing the name of the bound object, the name of the object's
class, and the object itself.
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List
list()is
similar to listBindings(), except that it returns an enumeration of names
containing an object's name and the name of the object's class. list() is
useful for applications such as browsers that want to discover information
about the objects bound within a context but that don't need all of the
actual objects. Although listBindings() provides all of the same information, it is
potentially a much more expensive operation.
Name
Nameis an interface that represents a generic name--an ordered sequence
of zero or more components. The Naming Systems use this interface to
define the names that follow its conventions as described in the Naming
and Directory Concepts lesson.
References
Objects are stored in naming and directory services in different ways. A
reference might be a very compact representation of an object.
The JNDI defines the Reference class to represent reference. A reference contains
information on how to construct a copy of the object. The JNDI will attempt to turn
references looked up from the directory into the Java objects that they represent so
that JNDI clients have the illusion that what is stored in the directory are Java objects.
The Initial Context

In the JNDI, all naming and directory operations are performed relative to a
context. There are no absolute roots. Therefore the JNDI defines an InitialContext,
which provides a starting point for naming and directory operations. Once you
have an initial context, you can use it to look up other contexts and objects.
Exceptions
The JNDI defines a class hierarchy for exceptions that can be thrown in the
course of performing naming and directory operations. The root of this class
hierarchy is NamingException. Programs interested in dealing with a particular
exception can catch the corresponding subclass of the exception. Otherwise, they
should catch NamingException.
Directory and LDAP Packages
Directory Package
The javax.naming package to provide functionality for accessing directory services in
addition to naming services. This package allows applications to retrieve
associated with objects stored in the directory and to search for objects using
specified attributes.
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The Directory Context

The DirContextinterface represents a directory context. DirContext also behaves as a
naming context by extending the getAttributes()to retrieve the attributes associated
with a directory entry (for which you supply the name). Attributes are modified
using modifyAttributes()method. Other overloaded forms of search()support more
sophisticated search filters.
LDAP Package
The javax.naming.ldap package contains classes and interfaces for using features that
are specific to the LDAP v3 that are not already covered by the more generic
javax.naming.directory package. In fact, most JNDI applications that use the LDAP will
find the javax.naming.directory package sufficient and will not need to use the
javax.naming.ldap package at all. This package is primarily for those applications that
need to use "extended" operations, controls, or unsolicited notifications.
"Extended" Operation
In addition to specifying well defined operations such as search and modify,
the LDAP v3 (RFC 2251) specifies a way to transmit yet-to-be defined
operations between the LDAP client and the server. These operations are
called "extended" operations. An "extended" operation may be defined by a
standards organization such as the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
or by a vendor.
Controls
The LDAP v3 allows any request or response to be augmented by yet-to-be
defined modifiers, called controls . A control sent with a request is a
request control and a control sent with a response is a response control . A
control may be defined by a standards organization such as the IETF or by
a vendor. Request controls and response controls are not necessarily
paired, that is, there need not be a response control for each request
control sent, and vice versa.
Unsolicited Notifications
In addition to the normal request/response style of interaction between the
client and server, the LDAP v3 also specifies unsolicited notifications--
messages that are sent from the server to the client asynchronously and
not in response to any client request.
The LDAP Context

The LdapContextinterface represents a context for performing "extended"
operations, sending request controls, and receiving response controls. Examples
of how to use these features are described in the JNDI Tutorial's Controls and
Extensions lesson.
Event and Service Provider Packages
85
Event Package
The javax.naming.event package contains classes and interfaces for supporting event
notification in naming and directory services. Event notification is described in
detail in the trail.
Events
A NamingEvent represents an event that is generated by a naming/directory
service. The event contains a type that identifies the type of event. For
example, event types are categorized into those that affect the namespace,
such as "object added," and those that do not, such as "object changed."
Listeners
A NamingListener is an object that listens for NamingEvents. Each category of
event type has a corresponding type of NamingListener. For example, a
NamespaceChangeListener represents a listener interested in namespace change
events and an ObjectChangeListener represents a listener interested in object
change events.
To receive event notifications, a listener must be registered with either an
EventContext or an EventDirContext. Once registered, the listener will receive event
notifications when the corresponding changes occur in the naming/directory
service. The details about Event Notification can be found in the JNDI Tutorial
Service Provider Package

The javax.naming.spi package provides the means by which developers of different
naming/directory service providers can develop and hook up their
implementations so that the corresponding services are accessible from
applications that use the JNDI.
Plug-In Architecture
The javax.naming.spi package allows different implementations to be plugged in
dynamically. These implementations include those for the initial context
and for contexts that can be reached from the initial context.
Java Object Support
The javax.naming.spi package supports implementors of lookup and related
methods to return Java objects that are natural and intuitive for the Java
programmer. For example, if you look up a printer name from the
directory, then you likely would expect to get back a printer object on
which to operate. This support is provided in the form of object factories.
This package also provides support for doing the reverse. That is, implementors of
Context.bind() and related methods can accept Java objects and store the objects in a
format acceptable to the underlying naming/directory service. This support is provided
in the form of state factories.
Multiple Naming Systems (Federation)

JNDI operations allow applications to supply names that span multiple
naming systems. In the process of completing an operation, one service
86
provider might need to interact with another service provider, for example
to pass on the operation to be continued in the next naming system. This
package provides support for different providers to cooperate to complete
JNDI operations.
The details about the Service Provider mechanism can be found in the JNDI
Tutorial
87
J2EE
Servlets
JSP
EJB
Struts
JMS
Hibernate
SAX
DOM
Design Patterns
Session façade
Front Controller
DAO
Chain of Responsibilities
Composition
Aggregation
Abstract Factory
Factory method
Bridge
Singleton
Builder
Iterate
Observer
State
Strategy
Visitor
Flyweight
88
Proxy
Router
Translation
Web Services
SOAP
UDDI
WSDL
Apache Axis
XML Technologies
XML
DDL
XSL
Link
Path
XQuery
Database
Oracle 9i(SQLPL/SQL)
DB2
Application Servers
WebSphere Application Server 6.1
WebLogic 9.1
JBoss 4.1.2
Apache Tomcat5.5
UML tools
Rational UML Modeling tool
Web Design
HTML
89
Java Script
CSS
AJAX
Methodologies
OOAD
OODB
SAD
Tools
Eclispe3.2
Ant
Maven
Batch Script
Shell script
Strategies
Requirement/Request Analysis
Deployment and Configuration
Performance Tuning and Review.
Configuration Tools
Rational Clear Case
Operating Systems
Windows
Unix
Sub Topics
Extension Mechanism
for Support of Optional Packages
Documentation Contents
Optional packages are packages of classes (and any associated native code)
that application developers can use to extend the functionality of the core
90
platform. The extension mechanism allows the Java virtual machine (VM) to use
the classes of the optional extension in much the same way as the VM uses
classes in the Java Platform. The extension mechanism also provides a way for
needed optional packages to be retrieved from specified URLs when they are not
already installed in the JDK or JRE.
Overview
* Overview - What optional packages are and how to use them.
API Specification
The following classes play a role in the extension mechanism:
* java.lang.ClassLoader
* java.lang.Package
* java.lang.Thread
* java.net.JarURLConnection
* java.net.URLClassLoader
* java.security.SecureClassLoader
See also the API Details section of the mechanism specification for notes on these
APIs.
Tutorials and Programmer's Guides
Located on the Java Software website:
* The Extension Mechanism trail of the Java Tutorial.
API Enhancements
* Enhancements to the extension mechanism in version 1.3 included an

extended set of manifest attributes that can be used for checking vendor and
versioning information of installed optional packages. If an applet requires an
optional package that isn't installed, or that is installed but has the wrong version
number or is not from the appropriate vendor, the Java Plug-in can download the
needed extension from a specified URL. For more information, see Optional-
Package Versioning.
More Information
• Extension Mechanism Architecture - Notes on the extension mechanism API

and how optional packages use the Jar file format.
91
Contents
• Introduction
• The Extension Mechanism
o Architecture
o Optional Package Deployment
o Bundled Optional Packages
o Installed Optional Packages
• Optional Package Sealing
• Optional Package Security
• Related APIs
Introduction
Note: Optional packages are the new name for what used to be known as
standard extensions. The "extension mechanism" is that functionality of the
JDK™ and JRE™ that supports the use of optional packages.
This document describes the mechanism provided by the Java™ platform for handling
optional packages. An optional package is a group of packages housed in one or more JAR
files that implement an API that extends the Java platform. Optional package classes extend
the platform in the sense that the virtual machine can find and load them without their being
on the class path, much as if they were classes in the platform's core API.
Since optional packages extend the platform's core API, their use should be judiciously
applied. Most commonly they are used for well standardized interfaces such as those defined
by the Java Community Process , although it may also be appropriate for site wide
SM
interfaces. Optional packages are rarely appropriate for interfaces used by a single, or small
set of applications.
Furthermore, since the symbols defined by installed optional packages will be visible in all
Java processes, care should be taken to ensure that all visible symbols follow the appropriate
"reverse domain name" and "class hierarchy" conventions. For example,
com.mycompany.MyClass.
An implementation of an optional package may consist of code written in the Java

programming language and, less commonly, platform-specific native code. In addition, it may
include properties, localization catalogs, images, serialized data, and other resources specific
to the optional package.
Support for optional packages in browsers such as Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator
is available through the Java Plug-in.
92
A optional package is an implementation of an open, standard API (examples of optional

packages from Sun are JavaServlet, Java3D, JavaManagement). Most optional packages
are rooted in the javax.* namespace, although there may be exceptions.
The Extension Mechanism
Architecture
The extension mechanism is designed to contain the following elements:
• an optional package or application packaged as a JAR file can declare

dependencies on other JAR files, thus allowing an application to consist of
multiple modules, and,
• the class loading mechanism is augmented to search installed optional
packages (and other libraries) for classes, and, if that fails, to search along
an application-specified path for classes.
Applications must therefore, in general, be prepared to specify and supply the

optional packages (and, more generally, libraries) that it needs. The system will
prefer installed copies of optional packages (and libraries) if they exist;
otherwise, it will delegate to the class loader of the application to find and load
the referenced optional package (and library) classes.
This architecture, since it allows applications, applets and servlets to extend their own class
path, also permits packaging and deploying these as multiple JAR files.
Each optional package or application consists of at least one JAR file containing an optional
manifest, code and assorted resources. As described below, this primary JAR file can also
include additional information in its manifest to describe dependencies on other JAR files.
The jar command line tool included with the JDK provides a convenient means of packaging
optional packages. (See the reference pages for the jar tool: [Microsoft Windows] [Solaris™
Operating System (Solaris OS), Linux])
An optional package or application may refer to additional JAR files which will be referenced
from the primary JAR, and these can optionally contain their own dependency information as
well.
Packages comprising optional packages should be named per the standard package naming
conventions when implementing optional packages. These conventions are outlined in The
Java Language Specification, but the requirement that the domain prefix be specified in all
upper case letters has been removed. For example, the package name com.sun.server is an
accepted alternative to COM.sun.server. Unique package naming is recommended in order to
avoid conflicts, because applications and optional packages may share the same class
loader.
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Optional Package Deployment

An optional package may either be bundled with an application or installed in the
JRE for use by all applications. Bundled optional packages are provided at the
same code base as the application and will automatically be downloaded in the
case of network applications (applets). For this reason, bundled optional
packages are often called download optional packages. When the manifest of a
bundled optional package's JAR file contains version information and the JAR is
signed, it can be installed into the extensions directory of the JRE which
downloads it (see Deploying Java Extensions). Installed optional packages are
loaded when first used and will be shared by all applications using the same JRE.
When packaging optional packages, the JAR file manifest can be used to identify vendor and
version information (see Package Version Identification).
Classes for installed optional packages are shared by all code in the same virtual machine.
Thus, installed optional packages are similar to the platform's core classes (in rt.jar), but with
an associated class loader and a pre-configured security policy as described below.
Classes for bundled optional packages are private to the class loader of the application,
applet or servlet. In the case of network applications such as applets, these optional
packages will be automatically downloaded as needed. Since class loaders are currently
associated with a codebase, this permits multiple applets originating from the same codebase
to share implementations (JARs). However, signed bundled optional packages with version
information as described above are installed in the JRE, and their contents are available to all
applications running on that JRE and are therefore not private.
Bundled Optional Packages

The manifest for an application or optional package can specify one or more
relative URLs referring to the JAR files and directories for the optional packages
(and other libraries) that it needs. These relative URLs will be treated relative to
the code base that the containing application or optional package JAR file was
loaded from.
An application (or, more generally, JAR file) specifies the relative URLs of the optional
packages (and libraries) that it needs via the manifest attribute Class-Path. This attribute lists
the URLs to search for implementations of optional packages (or other libraries) if they
cannot be found as optional packages installed on the host Java virtual machine*. These
relative URLs may include JAR files and directories for any libraries or resources needed by
the application or optional package. Relative URLs not ending with '/' are assumed to refer to
JAR files. For example,
Class-Path: servlet.jar infobus.jar acme/beans.jar images/

At most one Class-Path header may be specified in a JAR file's manifest..
94
Currently, the URLs must be relative to the code base of the JAR file for security reasons.
Thus, remote optional packages will originate from the same code base as the application.
Each relative URL is resolved against the code base that the containing application or
optional package was loaded from. If the resulting URL is invalid or refers to a resource that
cannot be found then it is ignored.
The resulting URLs are used to extend the class path for the application, applet, or servlet by
inserting the URLs in the class path immediately following the URL of the containing JAR file.
Any duplicate URLs are omitted. For example, given the following class path:
a.jar b.jar
If optional package b.jar contained the following Class-Path manifest attribute:
Class-Path: x.jar a.jar
Then the resulting application class path would be the following:
a.jar b.jar x.jar
Of course, if x.jar
had dependencies of its own then these would be added
according to the same rules and so on for each subsequent URL. In the actual
implementation, JAR file dependencies are processed lazily so that the JAR files
are not actually opened until needed.
Installed Optional Packages

Beginning with Sun's implementation of the Java 2 Platform, the JAR files of a
installed optional package are placed in a standard local code source:
<java-home>\lib\ext [Microsoft Windows]
<java-home>/lib/ext [Solaris OS, Linux]
Here <java-home> refers to the directory where the runtime software is installed (which is the
top-level directory of the JRE or the jre directory in the JDK).
The locations for installed optional packages can be specified through the system property
java.ext.dirs. This property specifies one or more directories to search for installed optional
packages, each separated by File.pathSeparatorChar. The default setting for java.ext.dirs is the
standard directory for installed optional packages, as indicated above. For Java 6 and later,
the default is enhanced: it is suffixed with the path to a platform-specific directory that is
shared by all JREs (Java 6 or later) installed on a system:
%SystemRoot%\Sun\Java\lib\ext [Microsoft Windows]

/usr/java/packages/lib/ext [Linux]
/usr/jdk/packages/lib/ext [Solaris OS]
An installed optional package may also contain one or more shared libraries (such as .dll
files) and executables. In what follows, <arch> will be shown but in practice should be the
name of an instruction set architecture, for example sparc, sparcv9, i386, and amd64. These can
be installed in one of two places. The first to be searched is:
<java-home>\bin [Microsoft Windows]

95
<java-home>/lib/<arch> [Solaris OS, Linux]
The second extension directory to be searched applies only to Java 6 and later. As with Java
packages, native libraries can be installed in directories that will be shared by all Java 6 and
later JREs:
%SystemRoot%\Sun\Java\bin [Microsoft Windows]

/usr/java/packages/lib/<arch> [Linux]
/usr/jdk/packages/lib/<arch> [Solaris OS]
An optional package that contains native code cannot be downloaded by network code into
the virtual machine at execution time, whether such code is trusted or not. An optional
package that contains native code and is bundled with a network application must be
installed in the JDK or JRE.
By default, installed optional packages in this standard directory are trusted. That is, they are
granted the same privileges as if they were core platform classes (those in rt.jar). This default
privilege is specified in the system policy file (in <java-home>/jre/lib/security/java.policy), but can be
overridden for a particular optional package by adding the appropriate policy file entry (see
Permissions in the JDK).
Note also that if a installed optional package JAR is signed by a trusted entity, then it will be
granted the privileges associated with the trusted signer.
Optional Package Sealing
JAR files and packages can be optionally sealed, so that an optional package or
package can enforce consistency within a version.
A package sealed within a JAR specifies that all classes defined in that package must
originate from the same JAR. Otherwise, a SecurityException is thrown.
A sealed JAR specifies that all packages defined by that JAR are sealed unless overridden
specifically for a package.
A sealed package is specified via the manifest attribute, Sealed, whose value is true or false
(case irrelevant). For example,
Name: javax/servlet/internal/
Sealed: true
specifies that the javax.servlet.internal
package is sealed, and that all classes in that
package must be loaded from the same JAR file.
If this attribute is missing, the package sealing attribute is that of the containing JAR file.
A sealed JAR is specified via the same manifest header, Sealed, with the value again of either
true or false. For example,
96
Sealed: true
specifies that all packages in this archive are sealed unless explicitly overridden
for a particular package with the Sealed attribute in a manifest entry.
If this attribute is missing, the JAR file is assumed to not be sealed, for backwards
compatibility. The system then defaults to examining package headers for sealing
information.
Package sealing is also important for security, because it restricts access to package-
protected members to only those classes defined in the package that originated from the
same JAR file.
Package sealing is checked for installed as well as downloaded optional packages, and will
result in a SecurityException if violated. Also, the null package is not sealable, so classes that
are to be sealed must be placed in their own packages.
Optional Package Security
The code source for a installed optional package (namely <java-home>/lib/ext) has a
pre-configured security policy associated with it. In Sun's implementation, the
exact level of trust granted to JARs in this directory is specified by the standard
security policy configuration file
<java-home>/lib/security/java.policy
The default policy is for a installed optional package to behave the same way it
would if were part of the core platform. This follows from the common need for a
installed optional package to load native code.
The Java Security Model provides some safety when installed optional package code is
called from untrusted code. However optional package code must be carefully reviewed for
potential security breaches wherever it uses privileged blocks.
A remotely loaded optional package that needs to use access-checked system services
(such as file I/O) to function correctly must either be signed by a trusted entity or loaded from
a trusted source.
Consult the Java security documentation for further details regarding how to write optional
package and application code to use the security features of the Java Platform.
Related APIs
Several classes in the Java platform support the extension mechanism, including:
• public class java.lang.ClassLoader

• public class java.lang.Package
• public class java.net.URLClassLoader
97
*As used on this web site, the terms "Java Virtual Machine" or "JVM" mean a virtual machine for the
Java platform.
Generic
Introduction
JDK 5.0 introduces several new extensions to the Java programming language.
One of these is the introduction of generics.
This trail is an introduction to generics. You may be familiar with similar constructs from other
languages, most notably C++ templates. If so, you'll see that there are both similarities and
important differences. If you are unfamiliar with look-a-alike constructs from elsewhere, all the
better; you can start fresh, without having to unlearn any misconceptions.
Generics allow you to abstract over types. The most common examples are container types,
such as those in the Collections hierarchy.
Here is a typical usage of that sort:
List myIntList = new LinkedList(); // 1

myIntList.add(new Integer(0)); // 2
Integer x = (Integer) myIntList.iterator().next(); // 3
The cast on line 3 is slightly annoying. Typically, the programmer knows what
kind of data has been placed into a particular list. However, the cast is essential.
The compiler can only guarantee that an Object will be returned by the iterator.
To ensure the assignment to a variable of type Integer is type safe, the cast is
required.
Of course, the cast not only introduces clutter. It also introduces the possibility of a run time
error, since the programmer may be mistaken.
What if programmers could actually express their intent, and mark a list as being restricted to
contain a particular data type? This is the core idea behind generics. Here is a version of the
program fragment given above using generics:
List<Integer> myIntList = new LinkedList<Integer>(); // 1'

myIntList.add(new Integer(0)); // 2'
Integer x = myIntList.iterator().next(); // 3'
Notice the type declaration for the variable myIntList. It specifies that this is not
just an arbitrary List, but a List of Integer, written List<Integer>. We say that
List is a generic interface that takes a type parameter--in this case, Integer. We
also specify a type parameter when creating the list object.
Note, too, that the cast on line 3' is gone.
Now, you might think that all we've accomplished is to move the clutter around. Instead of a
cast to Integer on line 3, we have Integer as a type parameter on line 1'. However, there is
98
a very big difference here. The compiler can now check the type correctness of the program
at compile-time. When we say that myIntList is declared with type List<Integer>, this tells
us something about the variable myIntList, which holds true wherever and whenever it is
used, and the compiler will guarantee it. In contrast, the cast tells us something the
programmer thinks is true at a single point in the code.
The net effect, especially in large programs, is improved readability and robustness.
Generics and Subtyping

Let's test your understanding of generics. Is the following code snippet legal?
List<String> ls = new ArrayList<String>(); // 1
List<Object> lo = ls; // 2
Line 1 is certainly legal. The trickier part of the question is line 2. This boils down
to the question: is a List of String a List of Object. Most people instinctively
answer, "Sure!"
Well, take a look at the next few lines:
lo.add(new Object()); // 3
String s = ls.get(0); // 4: Attempts to assign an Object to a String!
Here we've aliased ls and lo. Accessing ls, a list of String, through the alias lo,
we can insert arbitrary objects into it. As a result ls does not hold just Strings
anymore, and when we try and get something out of it, we get a rude surprise.
The Java compiler will prevent this from happening of course. Line 2 will cause a compile
time error.
In general, if Foo is a subtype (subclass or subinterface) of Bar, and G is some generic type
declaration, it is not the case that G<Foo> is a subtype of G<Bar>. This is probably the hardest
thing you need to learn about generics, because it goes against our deeply held intuitions.
We should not assume that collections don't change. Our instinct may lead us to think of
these things as immutable.
For example, if the department of motor vehicles supplies a list of drivers to the census
bureau, this seems reasonable. We think that a List<Driver> is a List<Person>, assuming
that Driver is a subtype of Person. In fact, what is being passed is a copy of the registry of
drivers. Otherwise, the census bureau could add new people who are not drivers into the list,
corrupting the DMV's records.
To cope with this sort of situation, it's useful to consider more flexible generic types. The rules
we've seen so far are quite restrictive.
Wildcards
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Consider the problem of writing a routine that prints out all the elements in a
collection. Here's how you might write it in an older version of the language (i.e.,
a pre-5.0 release):
void printCollection(Collection c) {
Iterator i = c.iterator();
for (k = 0; k < c.size(); k++) {
System.out.println(i.next());
}
}
And here is a naive attempt at writing it using generics (and the new for loop
syntax):
void printCollection(Collection<Object> c) {
for (Object e : c) {
System.out.println(e);
}
}
The problem is that this new version is much less useful than the old one.
Whereas the old code could be called with any kind of collection as a parameter,
the new code only takes Collection<Object>, which, as we've just demonstrated, is
not a supertype of all kinds of collections!
So what is the supertype of all kinds of collections? It's written Collection<?> (pronounced
"collection of unknown"), that is, a collection whose element type matches anything. It's called
a wildcard type for obvious reasons. We can write:
void printCollection(Collection<?> c) {
for (Object e : c) {
System.out.println(e);
}
}
and now, we can call it with any type of collection. Notice that inside
printCollection(), we can still read elements from c and give them type Object.
This is always safe, since whatever the actual type of the collection, it does
contain objects. It isn't safe to add arbitrary objects to it however:
Collection<?> c = new ArrayList<String>();
c.add(new Object()); // Compile time error
Since we don't know what the element type of c stands for, we cannot add
objects to it. The add() method takes arguments of type E, the element type of
the collection. When the actual type parameter is ?, it stands for some unknown
type. Any parameter we pass to add would have to be a subtype of this unknown
type. Since we don't know what type that is, we cannot pass anything in. The
sole exception is null, which is a member of every type.
On the other hand, given a List<?>, we can call get() and make use of the result. The result
type is an unknown type, but we always know that it is an object. It is therefore safe to assign
the result of get() to a variable of type Object or pass it as a parameter where the type
Object is expected.
100
Bounded Wildcards
Consider a simple drawing application that can draw shapes such as rectangles
and circles. To represent these shapes within the program, you could define a
class hierarchy such as this:
public abstract class Shape {
public abstract void draw(Canvas c);
}
public class Circle extends Shape {

private int x, y, radius;
public void draw(Canvas c) {
...
}
}
public class Rectangle extends Shape {

private int x, y, width, height;
public void draw(Canvas c) {
...
}
}
These classes can be drawn on a canvas:
public class Canvas {
public void draw(Shape s) {
s.draw(this);
}
}
Any drawing will typically contain a number of shapes. Assuming that they are
represented as a list, it would be convenient to have a method in Canvas that
draws them all:
public void drawAll(List<Shape> shapes) {
for (Shape s: shapes) {
s.draw(this);
}
}
Now, the type rules say that drawAll() can only be called on lists of exactly Shape:
it cannot, for instance, be called on a List<Circle>. That is unfortunate, since all
the method does is read shapes from the list, so it could just as well be called on
a List<Circle>. What we really want is for the method to accept a list of any kind
of shape:
public void drawAll(List<? extends Shape> shapes) {
...
}
There is a small but very important difference here: we have replaced the type
List<Shape> with List<? extends Shape>. Now drawAll() will accept lists of any
subclass of Shape, so we can now call it on a List<Circle> if we want.
List<? extends Shape> is an example of a bounded wildcard. The ? stands for an unknown
type, just like the wildcards we saw earlier. However, in this case, we know that this unknown
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type is in fact a subtype of Shape. (Note: It could be Shape itself, or some subclass; it need not
literally extend Shape.) We say that Shape is the upper bound of the wildcard.
There is, as usual, a price to be paid for the flexibility of using wildcards. That price is that it is
now illegal to write into shapes in the body of the method. For instance, this is not allowed:
public void addRectangle(List<? extends Shape> shapes) {

shapes.add(0, new Rectangle()); // Compile-time error!
}
You should be able to figure out why the code above is disallowed. The type of
the second parameter to shapes.add() is ? extends Shape-- an unknown subtype of
Shape. Since we don't know what type it is, we don't know if it is a supertype of
Rectangle; it might or might not be such a supertype, so it isn't safe to pass a
Rectangle there.
Bounded wildcards are just what one needs to handle the example of the DMV passing its
data to the census bureau. Our example assumes that the data is represented by mapping
from names (represented as strings) to people (represented by reference types such as
Person or its subtypes, such as Driver). Map<K,V> is an example of a generic type that takes
two type arguments, representing the keys and values of the map.
Again, note the naming convention for formal type parameters--K for keys and V for values.
public class Census {

public static void addRegistry(Map<String, ? extends Person> registry) {
}
...
Map<String, Driver> allDrivers = ... ;

Census.addRegistry(allDrivers);
JMX
Java Management Extensions provides a standard way of managing resources
such as applications, devices, and services.
The Java Management Extensions (JMX) trail provides an introduction to the

JMX technology, which is included in the Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE
platform). This trail presents examples of how to use the most important features
of the JMX technology.
Overview of the JMX Technology

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The Java Management Extensions (JMX) technology is a standard part of the Java Platform, Standard
Edition (Java SE platform). The JMX technology was added to the platform in the Java 2 Platform,
Standard Edition (J2SE) 5.0 release.
The JMX technology provides a simple, standard way of managing resources such as applications,
devices, and services. Because the JMX technology is dynamic, you can use it to monitor and manage
resources as they are created, installed and implemented. You can also use the JMX technology to
monitor and manage the Java Virtual Machine (Java VM).
The JMX specification defines the architecture, design patterns, APIs, and services in the Java
programming language for management and monitoring of applications and networks.
Using the JMX technology, a given resource is instrumented by one or more Java objects known as
Managed Beans, or MBeans. These MBeans are registered in a core-managed object server, known as
an MBean server. The MBean server acts as a management agent and can run on most devices that
have been enabled for the Java programming language.
The specifications define JMX agents that you use to manage any resources that have been correctly
configured for management. A JMX agent consists of an MBean server, in which MBeans are
registered, and a set of services for handling the MBeans. In this way, JMX agents directly control
resources and make them available to remote management applications.
The way in which resources are instrumented is completely independent from the management
infrastructure. Resources can therefore be rendered manageable regardless of how their management
applications are implemented.
The JMX technology defines standard connectors (known as JMX connectors) that enable you to
access JMX agents from remote management applications. JMX connectors using different protocols
provide the same management interface. Consequently, a management application can manage
resources transparently, regardless of the communication protocol used. JMX agents can also be used
by systems or applications that are not compliant with the JMX specification, as long as those systems
or applications support JMX agents.
Why Use the JMX Technology?
The JMX technology provides developers with a flexible means to instrument Java technology-based
applications (Java applications), create smart agents, implement distributed management middleware
and managers, and smoothly integrate these solutions into existing management and monitoring
systems.
• The JMX technology enables Java applications to be managed without heavy

investment.
A JMX technology-based agent (JMX agent) can run on most Java technology-enabled
devices. Consequently, Java applications can become manageable with little impact on
their design. A Java application needs only to embed a managed object server and make
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some of its functionality available as one or several managed beans (MBeans) registered
in the object server. That is all it takes to benefit from the management infrastructure.
• The JMX technology provides a standard way to manage Java applications,
systems, and networks.
For example, the Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) 5 Application Server
conforms to the JMX architecture and consequently can be managed by using JMX
technology.
• The JMX technology can be used for out-of-the-box management of the Java VM.
The Java Virtual Machine (Java VM) is highly instrumented using the JMX technology.
You can start a JMX agent to access the built-in Java VM instrumentation, and thereby
monitor and manage a Java VM remotely.
• The JMX technology provides a scalable, dynamic management architecture.
Every JMX agent service is an independent module that can be plugged into the
management agent, depending on the requirements. This component-based approach
means that JMX solutions can scale from small-footprint devices to large
telecommunications switches and beyond. The JMX specification provides a set of core
agent services. Additional services can be developed and dynamically loaded, unloaded,
or updated in the management infrastructure.
• The JMX technology leverages existing standard Java technologies.
Whenever needed, the JMX specification references existing Java specifications, for
example, the Java Naming and Directory Interface (J.N.D.I.) API.
• The JMX technology-based applications (JMX applications) can be created from a
NetBeans IDE module.
You can obtain a module from the NetBeans Update Center (select Tools -> Update
Center in the NetBeans interface) that enables you to create JMX applications by using
the NetBeans IDE. This reduces the cost of development of JMX applications.
• The JMX technology integrates with existing management solutions and emerging
technologies.
The JMX APIs are open interfaces that any management system vendor can implement.
JMX solutions can use lookup and discovery services and protocols such as Jini
network technology and the Service Location Protocol (SLP).
Architecture of the JMX Technology

The JMX technology can be divided into three levels, as follows:
• Instrumentation
• JMX agent
• Remote management
Instrumentation
To manage resources using the JMX technology, you must first instrument the resources in
the Java programming language. You use Java objects known as MBeans to implement the
access to the resources' instrumentation. MBeans must follow the design patterns and
interfaces defined in the JMX specification. Doing so ensures that all MBeans provide
managed resource instrumentation in a standardized way. In addition to standard MBeans,
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the JMX specification also defines a special type of MBean called an MXBean. An MXBean is
an MBean that references only a pre-defined set of data types. Other types of MBean exist,
but this trail will concentrate on standard MBeans and MXBeans.
Once a resource has been instrumented by MBeans, it can be managed through a JMX
agent. MBeans do not require knowledge of the JMX agent with which they will operate.
MBeans are designed to be flexible, simple, and easy to implement. Developers of

applications, systems, and networks can make their products manageable in a standard way
without having to understand or invest in complex management systems. Existing resources
can be made manageable with minimum effort.
In addition, the instrumentation level of the JMX specification provides a notification

mechanism. This mechanism enables MBeans to generate and propagate notification events
to components of the other levels.
JMX Agent
A JMX technology-based agent (JMX agent) is a standard management agent that directly
controls resources and makes them available to remote management applications. JMX
agents are usually located on the same machine as the resources they control, but this
arrangement is not a requirement.
The core component of a JMX agent is the MBean server, a managed object server in which
MBeans are registered. A JMX agent also includes a set of services to manage MBeans, and
at least one communications adaptor or connector to allow access by a management
application.
When you implement a JMX agent, you do not need to know the semantics or functions of
the resources that it will manage. In fact, a JMX agent does not even need to know which
resources it will serve because any resource instrumented in compliance with the JMX
specification can use any JMX agent that offers the services that the resource requires.
Similarly, the JMX agent does not need to know the functions of the management
applications that will access it.
Remote Management
JMX technology instrumentation can be accessed in many different ways, either through
existing management protocols such as the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)
or through proprietary protocols. The MBean server relies on protocol adaptors and
connectors to make a JMX agent accessible from management applications outside the
agent's Java Virtual Machine (Java VM).
Each adaptor provides a view through a specific protocol of all MBeans that are registered in
the MBean server. For example, an HTML adaptor could display an MBean in a browser.
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Connectors provide a manager-side interface that handles the communication between

manager and JMX agent. Each connector provides the same remote management interface
through a different protocol. When a remote management application uses this interface, it
can connect to a JMX agent transparently through the network, regardless of the protocol.
The JMX technology provides a standard solution for exporting JMX technology
instrumentation to remote applications based on Java Remote Method Invocation (Java RMI).
Monitoring and Management of the Java Virtual Machine
The JMX technology can also be used to monitor and manage the Java virtual machine (Java
VM).
The Java VM has built-in instrumentation that enables you to monitor and manage it by using
the JMX technology. These built-in management utilities are often referred to as out-of-the-
box management tools for the Java VM. To monitor and manage different aspects of the Java
VM, the Java VM includes a platform MBean server and special MXBeans for use by
management applications that conform to the JMX specification.
Platform MXBeans and the Platform MBean Server
The platform MXBeans are a set of MXBeans that is provided with the Java SE platform for
monitoring and managing the Java VM and other components of the Java Runtime
Environment (JRE). Each platform MXBean encapsulates a part of Java VM functionality,
such as the class-loading system, just-in-time (JIT) compilation system, garbage collector,
and so on. These MXBeans can be displayed and interacted with by using a monitoring and
management tool that complies with the JMX specification, to enable you to monitor and
manage these different VM functionalities. One such monitoring and management tool is the
Java SE platform's JConsole graphical user interface (GUI).
The Java SE platform provides a standard platform MBean server in which these platform
MXBeans are registered. The platform MBean server can also register any other MBeans you
wish to create.
JConsole
The Java SE platform includes the JConsole monitoring and management tool, which
complies with the JMX specification. JConsole uses the extensive instrumentation of the Java
VM (the platform MXBeans) to provide information about the performance and resource
consumption of applications that are running on the Java platform.
Out-of-the-Box Management in Action
Because standard monitoring and management utilities that implement the JMX technology
are built into the Java SE platform, you can see the out-of-the-box JMX technology in action
without having to write a single line of JMX API code. You can do so by launching a Java
application and then monitoring it by using JConsole.
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Monitoring an Application by Using JConsole
This procedure shows how to monitor the Notepad Java application. This procedure assumes
that you are running the Java SE 6 platform.
1. Start the Notepad Java application, by using the following command in a

terminal window:
java -jar jdk_home/demo/jfc/Notepad/Notepad.jar
Where jdk_home is the directory in which the Java Development Kit (JDK) is installed.
2. Once Notepad has opened, in a different terminal window, start JConsole by

using the following command:
jconsole
A New Connection dialog box is displayed.
3. In the New Connection dialog box, select Notepad.jar from the Local Process
list, and click the Connect button.
JConsole opens and connects itself to the Notepad.jar process. When JConsole
opens, you are presented with an overview of monitoring and management information
related to Notepad. For example, you can view the amount of heap memory the
application is consuming, the number of threads the application is currently running,
and how much central procesing unit (CPU) capacity the application is consuming.
4. Click the different JConsole tabs.
Each tab presents more detailed information about the different areas of functionality
of the Java VM in which Notepad is running. All the information presented is obtained
from the various JMX technology MXBeans mentioned in this trail. All the platform
MXBeans can be displayed in the MBeans tab. The MBeans tab is examined in the
next section of this trail.
5. To close JConsole, select Connection -> Exit.
Security
Java™ Security Overview

1 Introduction
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The Java™ platform was designed with a strong emphasis on security. At its core, the Java
language itself is type-safe and provides automatic garbage collection, enhancing the
robustness of application code. A secure class loading and verification mechanism ensures
that only legitimate Java code is executed.
The initial version of the Java platform created a safe environment for running potentially
untrusted code, such as Java applets downloaded from a public network. As the platform has
grown and widened its range of deployment, the Java security architecture has
correspondingly evolved to support an increasing set of services. Today the architecture
includes a large set of application programming interfaces (APIs), tools, and implementations
of commonly-used security algorithms, mechanisms, and protocols. This provides the
developer a comprehensive security framework for writing applications, and also provides the
user or administrator a set of tools to securely manage applications.
The Java security APIs span a wide range of areas. Cryptographic and public key
infrastructure (PKI) interfaces provide the underlying basis for developing secure
applications. Interfaces for performing authentication and access control enable applications
to guard against unauthorized access to protected resources.
The APIs allow for multiple interoperable implementations of algorithms and other security
services. Services are implemented in providers, which are plugged into the Java platform via
a standard interface that makes it easy for applications to obtain security services without
having to know anything about their implementations. This allows developers to focus on how
to integrate security into their applications, rather than on how to actually implement complex
security mechanisms.
The Java platform includes a number of providers that implement a core set of security
services. It also allows for additional custom providers to be installed. This enables
developers to extend the platform with new security mechanisms.
This paper gives a broad overview of security in the Java platform, from secure language
features to the security APIs, tools, and built-in provider services, highlighting key packages
and classes where applicable. Note that this paper is based on Java™ SE version 6.
2 Java Language Security and Bytecode Verification
The Java language is designed to be type-safe and easy to use. It provides automatic
memory management, garbage collection, and range-checking on arrays. This reduces the
overall programming burden placed on developers, leading to fewer subtle programming
errors and to safer, more robust code.
In addition, the Java language defines different access modifiers that can be assigned to
Java classes, methods, and fields, enabling developers to restrict access to their class
implementations as appropriate. Specifically, the language defines four distinct access levels:
private, protected, public, and, if unspecified, package. The most open access specifier is
public access is allowed to anyone. The most restrictive modifier is private access is not
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allowed outside the particular class in which the private member (a method, for example) is
defined. The protected modifier allows access to any subclass, or to other classes within the
same package. Package-level access only allows access to classes within the same
package.
A compiler translates Java programs into a machine-independent bytecode representation. A

bytecode verifier is invoked to ensure that only legitimate bytecodes are executed in the Java
runtime. It checks that the bytecodes conform to the Java Language Specification and do not
violate Java language rules or namespace restrictions. The verifier also checks for memory
management violations, stack underflows or overflows, and illegal data typecasts. Once
bytecodes have been verified, the Java runtime prepares them for execution.
3 Basic Security Architecture
The Java platform defines a set of APIs spanning major security areas, including
cryptography, public key infrastructure, authentication, secure communication, and access
control. These APIs allow developers to easily integrate security into their application code.
They were designed around the following principles:
1. Implementation independence
Applications do not need to implement security themselves. Rather, they

can request security services from the Java platform. Security services are
implemented in providers (see below), which are plugged into the Java
platform via a standard interface. An application may rely on multiple
independent providers for security functionality.
2. Implementation interoperability
Providers are interoperable across applications. Specifically, an application

is not bound to a specific provider, and a provider is not bound to a specific
application.
3. Algorithm extensibility
The Java platform includes a number of built-in providers that implement a

basic set of security services that are widely used today. However, some
applications may rely on emerging standards not yet implemented, or on
proprietary services. The Java platform supports the installation of custom
providers that implement such services.
Security Providers
The java.security.Provider class encapsulates the notion of a security provider in the Java
platform. It specifies the provider's name and lists the security services it implements. Multiple
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providers may be configured at the same time, and are listed in order of preference. When a
security service is requested, the highest priority provider that implements that service is
selected.
Applications rely on the relevant getInstance method to obtain a security service from an
underlying provider. For example, message digest creation represents one type of service
available from providers. (Section 4 discusses message digests and other cryptographic
services.) An application invokes the getInstance method in the
java.security.MessageDigest class to obtain an implementation of a specific message
digest algorithm, such as MD5.
MessageDigest md = MessageDigest.getInstance("MD5");
The program may optionally request an implementation from a specific provider, by indicating
the provider name, as in the following:
MessageDigest md =
MessageDigest.getInstance("MD5", "ProviderC");
Figures 1 and 2 illustrate these options for requesting an MD5 message digest
implementation. Both figures show three providers that implement message digest
algorithms. The providers are ordered by preference from left to right (1-3). In Figure 1, an
application requests an MD5 algorithm implementation without specifying a provider name.
The providers are searched in preference order and the implementation from the first provider
supplying that particular algorithm, ProviderB, is returned. In Figure 2, the application
requests the MD5 algorithm implementation from a specific provider, ProviderC. This time the
implementation from that provider is returned, even though a provider with a higher
preference order, ProviderB, also supplies an MD5 implementation.
Figure 1 Provider searching Figure 2 Specific provider requested
The Java platform implementation from Sun Microsystems includes a number of pre-
configured default providers that implement a basic set of security services that can be used
by applications. Note that other vendor implementations of the Java platform may include
different sets of providers that encapsulate vendor-specific sets of security services. When
this paper mentions built-in default providers, it is referencing those available in Sun's
implementation.
The sections below on the various security areas (cryptography, authentication, etc.) each
include descriptions of the relevant services supplied by the default providers. A table in
Appendix C summarizes all of the default providers.
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File Locations
Certain aspects of Java security mentioned in this paper, including the configuration of
providers, may be customized by setting security properties. You may set security properties
statically in the security properties file, which by default is the java.security file in the
lib/security directory of the directory where the Java™ Runtime Environment (JRE) is
installed. Security properties may also be set dynamically by calling appropriate methods of
the Security class (in the java.security package).
The tools and commands mentioned in this paper are all in the ~jre/bin directory, where
~jre stands for the directory in which the JRE is installed. The cacerts file mentioned in
Section 5 is in ~jre/lib/security.
4 Cryptography
The Java cryptography architecture is a framework for accessing and developing

cryptographic functionality for the Java platform. It includes APIs for a large variety of
cryptographic services, including
• Message digest algorithms

• Digital signature algorithms
• Symmetric bulk encryption
• Symmetric stream encryption
• Asymmetric encryption
• Password-based encryption (PBE)
• Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC)
• Key agreement algorithms
• Key generators
• Message Authentication Codes (MACs)
• (Pseudo-)random number generators
For historical (export control) reasons, the cryptography APIs are organized into two distinct
packages. The java.security package contains classes that are not subject to export
controls (like Signature and MessageDigest). The javax.crypto package contains classes
that are subject to export controls (like Cipher and KeyAgreement).
The cryptographic interfaces are provider-based, allowing for multiple and interoperable
cryptography implementations. Some providers may perform cryptographic operations in
software; others may perform the operations on a hardware token (for example, on a
smartcard device or on a hardware cryptographic accelerator). Providers that implement
export-controlled services must be digitally signed.
The Java platform includes built-in providers for many of the most commonly used
cryptographic algorithms, including the RSA and DSA signature algorithms, the DES, AES,
and ARCFOUR encryption algorithms, the MD5 and SHA-1 message digest algorithms, and
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the Diffie-Hellman key agreement algorithm. These default providers implement

cryptographic algorithms in Java code.
The Java platform also includes a built-in provider that acts as a bridge to a native PKCS#11
(v2.x) token. This provider, named SunPKCS11, allows Java applications to seamlessly access
cryptographic services located on PKCS#11-compliant tokens.
5 Public Key Infrastructure
Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is a term used for a framework that enables secure exchange
of information based on public key cryptography. It allows identities (of people, organizations,
etc.) to be bound to digital certificates and provides a means of verifying the authenticity of
certificates. PKI encompasses keys, certificates, public key encryption, and trusted
Certification Authorities (CAs) who generate and digitally sign certificates.
The Java platform includes API and provider support for X.509 digital certificates and
certificate revocation lists (CRLs), as well as PKIX-compliant certification path building and
validation. The classes related to PKI are located in the java.security and
java.security.cert packages.
Key and Certificate Storage
The Java platform provides for long-term persistent storage of cryptographic keys and
certificates via key and certificate stores. Specifically, the java.security.KeyStore class
represents a key store, a secure repository of cryptographic keys and/or trusted certificates
(to be used, for example, during certification path validation), and the
java.security.cert.CertStore class represents a certificate store, a public and potentially
vast repository of unrelated and typically untrusted certificates. A CertStore may also store
CRLs.
KeyStore and CertStore implementations are distinguished by types. The Java platform
includes the standard PKCS11 and PKCS12 key store types (whose implementations are
compliant with the corresponding PKCS specifications from RSA Security), as well as a
proprietary file-based key store type called JKS (which stands for "Java Key Store").
The Java platform includes a special built-in JKS key store, cacerts, that contains a number
of certificates for well-known, trusted CAs. The keytool documentation (see the security
features documentation link in Section 9) lists the certificates included in cacerts.
The SunPKCS11 provider mentioned in the "Cryptography" section (Section 4) includes a

PKCS11 KeyStore implementation. This means that keys and certificates residing in secure
hardware (such as a smartcard) can be accessed and used by Java applications via the
KeyStore API. Note that smartcard keys may not be permitted to leave the device. In such
cases, the java.security.Key object reference returned by the KeyStore API may simply be
a reference to the key (that is, it would not contain the actual key material). Such a Key object
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can only be used to perform cryptographic operations on the device where the actual key
resides.
The Java platform also includes an LDAP certificate store type (for accessing certificates
stored in an LDAP directory), as well as an in-memory Collection certificate store type (for
accessing certificates managed in a java.util.Collection object).
PKI Tools
There are two built-in tools for working with keys, certificates, and key stores:
keytool is used to create and manage key stores. It can
• Create public/private key pairs

• Display, import, and export X.509 v1, v2, and v3 certificates stored as files
• Create self-signed certificates
• Issue certificate (PKCS#10) requests to be sent to CAs
• Import certificate replies (obtained from the CAs sent certificate requests)
• Designate public key certificates as trusted
The jarsigner tool is used to sign JAR files, or to verify signatures on signed JAR files. The
Java ARchive (JAR) file format enables the bundling of multiple files into a single file.
Typically a JAR file contains the class files and auxiliary resources associated with applets
and applications. When you want to digitally sign code, you first use keytool to generate or
import appropriate keys and certificates into your key store (if they are not there already),
then use the jar tool to place the code in a JAR file, and finally use the jarsigner tool to sign
the JAR file. The jarsigner tool accesses a key store to find any keys and certificates needed
to sign a JAR file or to verify the signature of a signed JAR file. Note: jarsigner can optionally
generate signatures that include a timestamp. Systems (such as Java Plug-in) that verify JAR
file signatures can check the timestamp and accept a JAR file that was signed while the
signing certificate was valid rather than requiring the certificate to be current. (Certificates
typically expire annually, and it is not reasonable to expect JAR file creators to re-sign
deployed JAR files annually.)
6 Authentication
Authentication is the process of determining the identity of a user. In the context of the Java
runtime environment, it is the process of identifying the user of an executing Java program. In
certain cases, this process may rely on the services described in the "Cryptography" section
(Section 4).
The Java platform provides APIs that enable an application to perform user authentication via
pluggable login modules. Applications call into the LoginContext class (in the
javax.security.auth.login package), which in turn references a configuration. The
configuration specifies which login module (an implementation of the
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javax.security.auth.spi.LoginModule interface) is to be used to perform the actual

authentication.
Since applications solely talk to the standard LoginContext API, they can remain independent
from the underlying plug-in modules. New or updated modules can be plugged in for an
application without having to modify the application itself. Figure 3 illustrates the
independence between applications and underlying login modules:
Figure 3 Authentication login modules plugging into the authentication framework
It is important to note that although login modules are pluggable components that can be
configured into the Java platform, they are not plugged in via security Providers. Therefore,
they do not follow the Provider searching model described in Section 3. Instead, as is shown
in the above diagram, login modules are administered by their own unique configuration.
The Java platform provides the following built-in LoginModules, all in the
com.sun.security.auth.module package:
• Krb5LoginModule for authentication using Kerberos protocols

• JndiLoginModule for username/password authentication using LDAP or NIS
databases
• for logging into any type of key store, including a
KeyStoreLoginModule
PKCS#11 token key store
Authentication can also be achieved during the process of establishing a secure

communication channel between two peers. The Java platform provides implementations of a
number of standard communication protocols, which are discussed in the following section.
7 Secure Communication
The data that travels across a network can be accessed by someone who is not the intended
recipient. When the data includes private information, such as passwords and credit card
numbers, steps must be taken to make the data unintelligible to unauthorized parties. It is
also important to ensure that you are sending the data to the appropriate party, and that the
data has not been modified, either intentionally or unintentionally, during transport.
Cryptography forms the basis required for secure communication, and that is described in
Section 4. The Java platform also provides API support and provider implementations for a
number of standard secure communication protocols.
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SSL/TLS
The Java platform provides APIs and an implementation of the SSL and TLS protocols that
includes functionality for data encryption, message integrity, server authentication, and
optional client authentication. Applications can use SSL/TLS to provide for the secure
passage of data between two peers over any application protocol, such as HTTP on top of
TCP/IP.
The javax.net.ssl.SSLSocket class represents a network socket that encapsulates SSL/TLS

support on top of a normal stream socket (java.net.Socket). Some applications might want
to use alternate data transport abstractions (e.g., New-I/O); the javax.net.ssl.SSLEngine
class is available to produce and consume SSL/TLS packets.
The Java platform also includes APIs that support the notion of pluggable (provider-based)
key managers and trust managers. A key manager is encapsulated by the
javax.net.ssl.KeyManager class, and manages the keys used to perform authentication. A
trust manager is encapsulated by the TrustManager class (in the same package), and makes
decisions about who to trust based on certificates in the key store it manages.
SASL
Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL) is an Internet standard that specifies a
protocol for authentication and optional establishment of a security layer between client and
server applications. SASL defines how authentication data is to be exchanged, but does not
itself specify the contents of that data. It is a framework into which specific authentication
mechanisms that specify the contents and semantics of the authentication data can fit. There
are a number of standard SASL mechanisms defined by the Internet community for various
security levels and deployment scenarios.
The Java SASL API defines classes and interfaces for applications that use SASL
mechanisms. It is defined to be mechanism-neutral; an application that uses the API need not
be hardwired into using any particular SASL mechanism. Applications can select the
mechanism to use based on desired security features. The API supports both client and
server applications. The javax.security.sasl.Sasl class is used to create SaslClient and
SaslServer objects.
SASL mechanism implementations are supplied in provider packages. Each provider may
support one or more SASL mechanisms and is registered and invoked via the standard
provider architecture.
The Java platform includes a built-in provider that implements the following SASL
mechanisms:
• CRAM-MD5, DIGEST-MD5, EXTERNAL, GSSAPI, and PLAIN client

mechanisms
• CRAM-MD5, DIGEST-MD5, and GSSAPI server mechanisms
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GSS-API and Kerberos
The Java platform contains an API with the Java language bindings for the Generic Security
Service Application Programming Interface (GSS-API). GSS-API offers application
programmers uniform access to security services atop a variety of underlying security
mechanisms. The Java GSS-API currently requires use of a Kerberos v5 mechanism, and
the Java platform includes a built-in implementation of this mechanism. At this time, it is not
possible to plug in additional mechanisms. Note: The Krb5LoginModule mentioned in Section
6 can be used in conjunction with the GSS Kerberos mechanism.
Before two applications can use the Java GSS-API to securely exchange messages between
them, they must establish a joint security context. The context encapsulates shared state
information that might include, for example, cryptographic keys. Both applications create and
use an org.ietf.jgss.GSSContext object to establish and maintain the shared information
that makes up the security context. Once a security context has been established, it can be
used to prepare secure messages for exchange.
The Java GSS APIs are in the org.ietf.jgss package. The Java platform also defines basic
Kerberos classes, like KerberosPrincipal and KerberosTicket, which are located in the
javax.security.auth.kerberos package.
8 Access Control
The access control architecture in the Java platform protects access to sensitive resources
(for example, local files) or sensitive application code (for example, methods in a class). All
access control decisions are mediated by a security manager, represented by the
java.lang.SecurityManager class. A SecurityManager must be installed into the Java
runtime in order to activate the access control checks.
Java applets and Java™ Web Start applications are automatically run with a
SecurityManager installed. However, local applications executed via the java command are
by default not run with a SecurityManager installed. In order to run local applications with a
SecurityManager, either the application itself must programmatically set one via the
setSecurityManager method (in the java.lang.System class), or java must be invoked with a
-Djava.security.manager argument on the commandline.
Permissions
When Java code is loaded by a class loader into the Java runtime, the class loader
automatically associates the following information with that code:
• Where the code was loaded from

• Who signed the code (if anyone)
• Default permissions granted to the code
116
This information is associated with the code regardless of whether the code is downloaded
over an untrusted network (e.g., an applet) or loaded from the filesystem (e.g., a local
application). The location from which the code was loaded is represented by a URL, the code
signer is represented by the signer's certificate chain, and default permissions are
represented by java.security.Permission objects.
The default permissions automatically granted to downloaded code include the ability to
make network connections back to the host from which it originated. The default permissions
automatically granted to code loaded from the local filesystem include the ability to read files
from the directory it came from, and also from subdirectories of that directory.
Note that the identity of the user executing the code is not available at class loading time. It is
the responsibility of application code to authenticate the end user if necessary (for example,
as described in Section 6). Once the user has been authenticated, the application can
dynamically associate that user with executing code by invoking the doAs method in the
javax.security.auth.Subject class.
Policy
As mentioned earlier, a limited set of default permissions are granted to code by class
loaders. Administrators have the ability to flexibly manage additional code permissions via a
security policy.
The Java platform encapsulates the notion of a security policy in the java.security.Policy
class. There is only one Policy object installed into the Java runtime at any given time. The
basic responsibility of the Policy object is to determine whether access to a protected
resource is permitted to code (characterized by where it was loaded from, who signed it, and
who is executing it). How a Policy object makes this determination is implementation-
dependent. For example, it may consult a database containing authorization data, or it may
contact another service.
The Java platform includes a default Policy implementation that reads its authorization data
from one or more ASCII (UTF-8) files configured in the security properties file. These policy
files contain the exact sets of permissions granted to code: specifically, the exact sets of
permissions granted to code loaded from particular locations, signed by particular entities,
and executing as particular users. The policy entries in each file must conform to a
documented proprietary syntax, and may be composed via a simple text editor or the
graphical policytool utility.
Access Control Enforcement
The Java runtime keeps track of the sequence of Java calls that are made as a program
executes. When access to a protected resource is requested, the entire call stack, by default,
is evaluated to determine whether the requested access is permitted.
117
As mentioned earlier, resources are protected by the SecurityManager. Security-sensitive

code in the Java platform and in applications protects access to resources via code like the
following:
SecurityManager sm = System.getSecurityManager();
if (sm != null) {
sm.checkPermission(perm);
}
where perm is the Permission object that corresponds to the requested access. For example,
if an attempt is made to read the file /tmp/abc, the permission may be constructed as follows:
Permission perm =
new java.io.FilePermission("/tmp/abc", "read");
The default implementation of SecurityManager delegates its decision to the

java.security.AccessController implementation. The AccessController traverses the call
stack, passing to the installed security Policy each code element in the stack, along with the
requested permission (for example, the FilePermission in the above example). The Policy
determines whether the requested access is granted, based on the permissions configured
by the administrator. If access is not granted, the AccessController throws a
java.lang.SecurityException.
Figure 4 illustrates access control enforcement. In this particular example, there are initially
two elements on the call stack, ClassA and ClassB. ClassA invokes a method in ClassB,
which then attempts to access the file /tmp/abc by creating an instance of
java.io.FileInputStream. The FileInputStream constructor creates a FilePermission,
perm, as shown above, and then passes perm to the SecurityManager's checkPermission
method. In this particular case, only the permissions for ClassA and ClassB need to be
checked, because all system code, including FileInputStream, SecurityManager, and
AccessController, automatically receives all permissions.
In this example, ClassA and ClassB have different code characteristics?they come from
different locations and have different signers. Each may have been granted a different set of
permissions. The AccessController only grants access to the requested file if the Policy
indicates that both classes have been granted the required FilePermission.
Figure 4 Controlling access to resources
9 For More Information
Detailed documentation for all the Java SE 6 security features mentioned in this paper can be
found at
118
http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/guide/security/index.html
Additional Java security documentation can be found online at
http://java.sun.com/security/
and in the book Inside Java 2 Platform Security, Second Edition (Addison-Wesley). See
http://java.sun.com/docs/books/security/index.html
Note: Historically, as new types of security services were added to the Java platform
(sometimes initially as extensions), various acronymns were used to refer to them. Since
these acronyms are still in use in the Java security documentation, here is an explanation of
what they represent: JSSE (Java™ Secure Socket Extension) refers to the SSL-related
services described in Section 7, JCE (Java™ Cryptography Extension) refers to
cryptographic services (Section 4), and JAAS (Java™ Authentication and Authorization
Service) refers to the authentication and user-based access control services described in
Sections 6 and 8, respectively.
Appendix A Classes Summary
Table 1 summarizes the names, packages, and usage of the Java security classes and
interfaces mentioned in this paper.
Table 1 Key Java security packages and classes
Package Class/Interface Usage

Name
com.sun.security.auth.module JndiLoginModule Performs username/password
authentication using LDAP or NIS
database
KeyStoreLoginModule Performs authentication based on key
store login
Krb5LoginModule Performs authentication using Kerberos
protocols
java.lang SecurityException Indicates a security violation
SecurityManager Mediates all access control decisions
System Installs the SecurityManager
119
java.security AccessController Called by default implementation of

SecurityManager to make access
control decisions
Key Represents a cryptographic key
KeyStore Represents a repository of keys and
trusted certificates
MessageDigest Represents a message digest
Permission Represents access to a particular
resource
Policy Encapsulates the security policy
Provider Encapsulates security service
implementations
Security Manages security providers and
security properties
Signature Creates and verifies digital signatures
java.security.cert Certificate Represents a public key certificate
CertStore Represents a repository of unrelated
and typically untrusted certificates
javax.crypto Cipher Performs encryption and decryption
KeyAgreement Performs a key exchange
javax.net.ssl KeyManager Manages keys used to perform
SSL/TLS authentication
SSLEngine Produces/consumes SSL/TLS packets,
allowing the application freedom to
choose a transport mechanism
SSLSocket Represents a network socket that
encapsulates SSL/TLS support on top
of a normal stream socket
TrustManager Makes decisions about who to trust in
SSL/TLS interactions (for example,
based on trusted certificates in key
stores)
javax.security.auth Subject Represents a user
javax.security.auth.kerberos KerberosPrincipal Represents a Kerberos principal
KerberosTicket Represents a Kerberos ticket
javax.security.auth.login LoginContext Supports pluggable authentication
javax.security.auth.spi LoginModule Implements a specific authentication
mechanism
120
javax.security.sasl Sasl Creates SaslClient and SaslServer

objects
SaslClient Performs SASL authentication as a
client
SaslServer Performs SASL authentication as a
server
org.ietf.jgss GSSContext Encapsulates a GSS-API security
context and provides the security
services available via the context
Appendix B Tools Summary
Table 2 summarizes the tools mentioned in this paper.
Table 2 Java security tools
Tool Usage
jar Creates Java Archive (JAR) files
jarsigner Signs and verifies signatures on JAR files
keytool Creates and manages key stores
policytool Creates and edits policy files for use with
default Policy implementation
There are also three Kerberos-related tools that are shipped with the Java platform for
Windows. Equivalent functionality is provided in tools of the same name that are
automatically part of the Solaris and Linux operating environments. Table 3 summarizes the
Kerberos tools.
Table 3 Kerberos-related tools
Tool Usage
kinit Obtains and caches Kerberos ticket-
granting tickets
klist Lists entries in the local Kerberos
credentials cache and key table
ktab Manages the names and service keys
stored in the local Kerberos key table
Appendix C Built-in Providers

121
The Java platform implementation from Sun Microsystems includes a number of built-in
provider packages. For details, see the Java™ Cryptography Architecture Sun Providers
Documentation.
Java ™ Cryptography Architecture

Sun Providers Documentation
for Java Platform Standard Edition 6
TM
Introduction
The SunPKCS11 Provider
The SUN Provider
The SunRsaSign Provider
The SunJSSE Provider
The SunJCE Provider
The SunJGSS Provider
The SunSASL Provider
The XMLDSig Provider
The SunPCSC Provider
The SunMSCAPI Provider
Note: The Standard Names Documentation contains more information about the standard
names used in this document.
Introduction
The Java platform defines a set of APIs spanning major security areas, including
cryptography, public key infrastructure, authentication, secure communication, and access
control. These APIs allow developers to easily integrate security mechanisms into their
application code. The Java Cryptography Architecture (JCA) and its Provider Architecture is a
core concept of the Java Development Kit (JDK). It is assumed readers have an solid
understanding of this architecture.
122
This document describes the technical details of the providers shipped as part of Sun's Java
Environment.
Reminder: Cryptographic implementations in the Sun JDK are distributed through several
different providers ("Sun", "SunJSSE", "SunJCE", "SunRsaSign") for both historical reasons
and by the types of services provided. General purpose applications SHOULD NOT request
cryptographic services from specific providers. That is:
getInstance("...", "SunJCE"); // not recommended

vs.
getInstance("..."); // recommended
Otherwise, applications are tied to specific providers which may not be available on other
Java implementations. They also might not be able to take advantage of available optimized
providers (for example, hardware accelerators via PKCS11 or native OS implementations
such as Microsoft's MSCAPI) that have a higher preference order than the specific requested
provider.
The SunPKCS11 Provider

The Cryptographic Token Interface Standard ( PKCS#11) provides native programming
interfaces to cryptographic mechanisms, such as hardware cryptographic accelerators and
Smart Cards. When properly configured, the SunPKCS11 provider enables applications to use
the standard JCA/JCE APIs to access native PKCS#11 libraries. The SunPKCS11 provider
itself does not contain cryptographic functionality, it is simply a conduit between the
Java environment and the native PKCS11 providers. The Java PKCS#11 Reference Guide
has a much more detailed treatment of this provider.
The SUN Provider

JDK 1.1 introduced the Provider architecture. The first JDK provider was named SUN, and
contained two types of cryptographic services (MessageDigests and Signatures). In later
releases, other mechanisms were added (SecureRandom number generators,
KeyPairGenerators, KeyFactorys, etc.).
United States export regulations in effect at the time placed significant restrictions on the type
of cryptographic functionality that could be made available internationally in the JDK. For this
reason, the SUN provider has historically contained cryptographic engines that did not directly
encrypt or decrypt data.
The following algorithms are available in the SUN provider:

123
Engine Algorithm Name(s)

AlgorithmParameterGenerator DSA
AlgorithmParameters DSA
CertificateFactory X.509
CertPathBuilder PKIX
CertPathValidator PKIX
CertStore
Collection
LDAP
Configuration JavaLoginConfig
KeyFactory DSA
KeyPairGenerator DSA
KeyStore JKS
MD2
MD5
MessageDigest
SHA-1
SHA-256
SHA-384
SHA-512
Policy JavaPolicy
SecureRandom SHA1PRNG
Signature
NONEwithDSA
SHA1withDSA
Keysize Restrictions
The SUN provider uses the following default keysizes (in bits) and enforce the following
restrictions:
KeyPairGenerator
124
Alg. Default
Restrictions/Comments
Name Keysize
Keysize must be a multiple of 64, ranging from 512 to

DSA 1024
1024 (inclusive).
AlgorithmParameterGenerator
Alg. Default
Name Keysize

DSA 1024
1024 (inclusive).
CertificateFactory/CertPathBuilder/ CertPathValidator/CertStore
implementations
Additional details on the SUN provider implementations for CertificateFactory,

CertPathBuilder, CertPathValidator and CertStore are documented in Appendix B of the
PKI Programmer's Guide.
The SunRsaSign Provider

The SunRsaSign provider was introduced in JDK 1.3 as an enhanced replacement for the
RSA signatures in the SunJSSE provider.
The following algorithms are available in the SunRsaSign provider:

KeyFactory RSA
KeyPairGenerator RSA
MD2withRSA
MD5withRSA
Signature
SHA1withRSA
SHA256withRSA
SHA384withRSA
SHA512withRSA
125
The SunRsaSign provider uses the following default keysizes (in bits) and enforce the
following restrictions:
KeyPairGenerator
Alg. Default
Name Keysize
Keysize must range between 512 and 65536 bits, the

RSA 1024
former of which is unnecessarily large.
The SunJSSE Provider

The Java Secure Socket Extension (JSSE) was originally released as a separate "Optional
Package" (also briefly known as a "Standard Extension"), and was available for JDK 1.2.x
and 1.3.x. The SunJSSE provider was introduced as part of this release.
In earlier JDK releases, there were no RSA signature providers available in the JDK,
therefore SunJSSE had to provide its own RSA implementation in order to use commonly
available RSA-based certificates. JDK 5 introduced the SunRsaSign provider, which provides
all the functionality (and more) of the SunJSSE provider. Applications targeted at JDK 5.0 and
higher should request instances of the SunRsaSign provider instead. For backwards-
compatibility, the RSA algorithms are still available through this provider, but are actually
implemented in the SunRsaSign provider.
The following algorithms are available in the SunJSSE provider:

KeyFactory RSA
KeyManagerFactory SunX509
KeyStore PKCS12
MD2withRSA
Signature MD5withRSA
SHA1withRSA
SSLContext
SSLv3
TLSv1
TrustManagerFactory PKIX
126
The SunJSSE also supports the following protocol parameters:
Protocol
SSLv3
TLSv1
SSLv2Hello
SunJSSE supports a large number of ciphersuites. The table below shows the ciphersuites
supported by SunJSSE in their default preference order and the release in which they were
introduced.
Supported In Releases
Cipher Suite
<1.4.2 1.4.2 J2SE 5 Java SE 6
SSL_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_MD5 X X X X
SSL_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA X X X X
TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA X X X
TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA X X X
TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA X
TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA X
TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA X
TLS_ECDH_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA X
TLS_ECDH_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA X
TLS_ECDH_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA X
TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA X
TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA X
TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA X
TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_SHA X
TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA X
TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA X
TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA X X X
TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA X X X
TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA X X X
TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA X X X
SSL_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA X X X X
TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA X
TLS_ECDH_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA X
127
TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA X
TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA X
SSL_DHE_RSA_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA X X X
SSL_DHE_DSS_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA X X X X
SSL_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA X X X X
SSL_DHE_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA X X X
SSL_DHE_DSS_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA X X X X
SSL_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_RC4_40_MD5 X X X X
SSL_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA X X X
SSL_DHE_RSA_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA X X X
SSL_DHE_DSS_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA X X X X
SSL_RSA_WITH_NULL_MD5 X X X X
SSL_RSA_WITH_NULL_SHA X X X X
TLS_ECDH_ECDSA_WITH_NULL_SHA X
TLS_ECDH_RSA_WITH_NULL_SHA X
TLS_ECDHE_ECDSA_WITH_NULL_SHA X
TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_NULL_SHA X
SSL_DH_anon_WITH_RC4_128_MD5 X X X X
TLS_DH_anon_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA X X X
TLS_DH_anon_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA X X X
SSL_DH_anon_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA X X X X
SSL_DH_anon_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA X X X X
TLS_ECDH_anon_WITH_RC4_128_SHA X
TLS_ECDH_anon_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA X
TLS_ECDH_anon_WITH_AES_256_CBC_SHA X
TLS_ECDH_anon_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA X
SSL_DH_anon_EXPORT_WITH_RC4_40_MD5 X X X X
SSL_DH_anon_EXPORT_WITH_DES40_CBC_SHA X X X X
TLS_ECDH_anon_WITH_NULL_SHA X
TLS_KRB5_WITH_RC4_128_SHA X X
TLS_KRB5_WITH_RC4_128_MD5 X X
TLS_KRB5_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA X X
TLS_KRB5_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_MD5 X X
TLS_KRB5_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA X X
TLS_KRB5_WITH_DES_CBC_MD5 X X
TLS_KRB5_EXPORT_WITH_RC4_40_SHA X X
TLS_KRB5_EXPORT_WITH_RC4_40_MD5 X X
128
TLS_KRB5_EXPORT_WITH_DES_CBC_40_SHA X X
TLS_KRB5_EXPORT_WITH_DES_CBC_40_MD5 X X
Ciphersuites that use AES_256 requires installation of the JCE Unlimited Strength
Jurisdiction Policy Files. See Java SE Download Page.
Ciphersuites that use Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECDSA, ECDH, ECDHE, ECDH_anon)
require that a JCE crypto provider with the following properties be installed:
• implements ECC as defined by the classes and interfaces in the packages

java.security.spec and java.security.interfaces. The getAlgorithm() method of
elliptic curve key objects must return the String "EC"
• supports the Signature algorithms SHA1withECDSA and NONEwithECDSA, the
KeyAgreement algorithm ECDH, and a KeyPairGenerator and a KeyFactory for
algorithm EC. If one of these algorithms is missing, SunJSSE will not allow EC
ciphersuites to be used.
• the crypto provider should support all the SECG curves referenced in RFC 4492
specification, section 5.1.1 (see also appendix A). In certificates, points should be
encoded using the uncompressed form and curves should be encoded using the
namedCurve choice, i.e. using an object identifier. If these requirements are not met, EC
ciphersuites may not be negotiated correctly.
The SunJCE Provider

As described briefly in The SUN Provider, US export regulations at the time restricted the type
of cryptographic functionality that could be made available in the JDK. A separate API and
reference implementation was developed that allowed applications to encrypt/decrypt data.
The Java Cryptographic Extension (JCE) was released as a separate "Optional Package"
(also briefly known as a "Standard Extension"), and was available for JDK 1.2.x and 1.3.x.
During the development of JDK 1.4, regulations were relaxed enough that JCE (and
SunJSSE) could be bundled as part of the JDK.
The following algorithms are available in the SunJCE provider:

rithmParameterGenerator DiffieHellman
rithmParameters AES
Blowfish
DES
DESede
DiffieHellman
OAEP
129
PBEWithMD5AndDES
PBEWithMD5AndTripleDES
PBEWithSHA1AndDESede
PBEWithSHA1AndRC2_40
RC2
130
Alg. Name Modes Paddings
ECB, CBC,
PCBC, CTR,
CTS, CFB, NOPADDING, PKCS5PADDING,
AES
CFB8..CFB128, ISO10126PADDING
OFB,
OFB8..OFB128
AESWrap ECB NOPADDING
ARCFOUR ECB NOPADDING
ECB, CBC,
PCBC, CTR,
Blowfish, DES, DESede, CTS, CFB, NOPADDING, PKCS5PADDING,
RC2 CFB8..CFB64, ISO10126PADDING
OFB,
OFB8..OFB64
er
DESedeWrap CBC NOPADDING
PBEWithMD5AndDES,
PBEWithMD5AndTripleDES1
CBC PKCS5Padding
PBEWithSHA1AndDESede,
NOPADDING, PKCS1PADDING,
OAEPWITHMD5ANDMGF1PADDING,
OAEPWITHSHA1ANDMGF1PADDING
OAEPWITHSHA-1ANDMGF1PADDIN
OAEPWITHSHA-
RSA ECB
256ANDMGF1PADDING,
OAEPWITHSHA-
384ANDMGF1PADDING,
OAEPWITHSHA-
512ANDMGF1PADDING
Footnote 1: PBEWithMD5AndTripleDES is a proprietary algorithm that has not been
standardized.
greement DiffieHellman
131

actory DiffieHellman
AES
ARCFOUR
Blowfish
DES
DESede
enerator HmacMD5
HmacSHA1
HmacSHA256
HmacSHA384
HmacSHA512
RC2
airGenerator DiffieHellman
tore JCEKS
HmacMD5
HmacSHA1
HmacSHA256
HmacSHA384
HmacSHA512
DES
DESede
PBEWithMD5AndDES
etKeyFactory PBEWithMD5AndTripleDES
PBEWithSHA1AndDESede
PBKDF2WithHmacSHA1
The SunJCE provider uses the following default keysizes (in bits) and enforce the following
restrictions:
KeyGenerator
132
Default
Alg. Name Restrictions/Comments
Keysize
AES 128 Keysize must be equal to 128, 192, or 256.
ARCFOUR Keysize must range between 40 and 1024

128
(RC4) (inclusive).
Keysize must be a multiple of 8, ranging from 32

Blowfish 128
to 448 (inclusive).
DES 56 Keysize must be equal to 56.
Keysize must be equal to 112 or 168.
A keysize of 112 will generate a Triple DES key with 2

intermediate keys, and a keysize of 168 will generate a
DESede
168 Triple DES key with 3 intermediate keys.
(Triple DES)
Due to the "Meet-In-The-Middle" problem, even though
112 or 168 bits of key material are used, the effective
keysize is 80 or 112 bits respectively.
HmacMD5 512 No keysize restriction.
HmacSHA1 512 No keysize restriction.
Keysize must range between 40 and 1024

RC2 128
(inclusive).
NOTE: The various Password-Based Encryption (PBE) algorithms use various algorithms to
generate key data, and ultimately depends on the targeted Cipher algorithm. For example,
"PBEWithMD5AndDES" will always generate 56-bit keys.
KeyPairGenerator
Alg. Default
Name Keysize
Diffie- 1024 Keysize must be a multiple of 64, ranging from 512 to

Hellman 1024 (inclusive).
133
Alg. Default
Name Keysize
(DH)
AlgorithmParameterGenerator
Alg. Default
Name Keysize
Diffie-
Hellman 1024
1024 (inclusive).
(DH)

DSA 1024
1024 (inclusive).
The SunJGSS Provider

The following algorithms are available in the SunJGSS provider:
OID Name
1.2.840.113554.1.2.2 Kerberos v5
1.3.6.1.5.5.2 SPNEGO
The SunSASL Provider

The following algorithms are available in the SunSASL provider:
CRAM-MD5
DIGEST-MD5
SaslClient EXTERNAL
GSSAPI
PLAIN
CRAM-MD5
SaslServer DIGEST-MD5
GSSAPI
134
The XMLDSig Provider

The following algorithms are available in the XMLDSig provider:

KeyInfoFactory DOM
http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/REC-xml-c14n-
20010315 - (CanonicalizationMethod.INCLUSIVE)
http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/REC-xml-c14n-
20010315#WithComments -
(CanonicalizationMethod.INCLUSIVE_WITH_COMMENTS)
http://www.w3.org/2001/10/xml-exc-c14n# -
(CanonicalizationMethod.EXCLUSIVE)
http://www.w3.org/2001/10/xml-exc-
c14n#WithComments -
TransformService
(CanonicalizationMethod.EXCLUSIVE_WITH_COMMENTS)
http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#base64 -
(Transform.BASE64)
http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#enveloped-
signature - (Transform.ENVELOPED)
http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-xpath-
19991116 - (Transform.XPATH)
http://www.w3.org/2002/06/xmldsig-filter2 -
(Transform.XPATH2)
http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-xslt-19991116 -
(Transform.XSLT)
XMLSignatureFactory DOM
The SunPCSC Provider

The SunPCSC provider enables applications to use the Java Smart Card I/O API to interact
with the PC/SC Smart Card stack of the underlying operating system. On some operating
systems, it may be necessary to enable and configure the PC/SC stack before it is usable.
Consult your operating system documentation for details.
On Solaris and Linux platforms, SunPCSC accesses the PC/SC stack via the libpcsclite.so
library. It looks for this library in the directories /usr/$LIBISA and /usr/local/$LIBISA, where
$LIBISA is expanded to lib on 32-bit platforms, lib/64 on 64-bit Solaris platforms, and lib64
on 64-bit Linux platforms. The system property sun.security.smartcardio.library may also
be set to the full filename of an alternate libpcsclite.so implementation. On Windows
135
platforms, SunPCSC always calls into winscard.dll and no Java-level configuration is

necessary or possible.
If PC/SC is available on the host platform, the SunPCSC implementation can be obtained via
TerminalFactory.getDefault() and TerminalFactory.getInstance("PC/SC"). If PC/SC is not
available or not correctly configured, a getInstance() call will fail with a
NoSuchAlgorithmException and getDefault() will return a JRE built-in implementation that
does not support any terminals.
The following algorithms are available in the SunPCSC provider:

TerminalFactory PC/SC
The SunMSCAPI Provider

The SunMSCAPI provider enables applications to use the standard JCA/JCE APIs to access
the native cryptographic libraries, certificates stores and key containers on the Microsoft
Windows platform. The SunMSCAPI provider itself does not contain cryptographic
functionality, it is simply a conduit between the Java environment and the native
cryptographic services on Windows.
The following algorithms are available in the SunMSCAPI provider:

Cipher RSA RSA/ECB/PKCS1Padding only
Windows-MY
The keystore type that identifies the native

Microsoft Windows MY keystore. It contains the
user's personal certificates and associated private
keys.
KeyStore
Windows-ROOT
The keystore type that identifies the native

Microsoft Windows ROOT keystore. It contains the
certificates of Root certificate authorities and other
self-signed trusted certificates.
136
Windows-PRNG
SecureRandom
The name of the native pseudo-random number
generation (PRNG) algorithm.
MD2withRSA
Signature MD5withRSA
SHA1withRSA
The SunMSCAPI provider uses the following default keysizes (in bits) and enforce the
following restrictions:
KeyGenerator
Alg. Default
Name Keysize
Keysize ranges from 384 bits to 16,384 bits (depending

RSA 1024 on the underlying Microsoft Windows cryptographic
service provider).

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1

ADVANTAGES OF DYNAMIC CODE LOADING.................................................................. 44

BUILDING A JAR FILE OF INTERFACE CLASSES............................................................. 60

TOP-LEVEL CONTAINERS AND CONTAINMENT HIERARCHIES.................................................. 70

1. CREATE THE PROPERTIES FILES.......................................................................... 74

WEBSPHERE APPLICATION SERVER 6.1 88

RATIONAL UML MODELING TOOL 88

DEPLOYMENT AND CONFIGURATION 89

PERFORMANCE TUNING AND REVIEW. 89

RATIONAL CLEAR CASE 89

JAVA™ SECURITY OVERVIEW 106

JAVA ™ CRYPTOGRAPHY ARCHITECTURE

FOR JAVATM PLATFORM STANDARD EDITION 6..................................................... 121

THE SUNPKCS11 PROVIDER 122

THE SUN PROVIDER 122

KEYSIZE RESTRICTIONS ................................................................................ 123

THE SUNRSASIGN PROVIDER 124

KEYSIZE RESTRICTIONS ................................................................................ 124

THE SUNJSSE PROVIDER 125

THE SUNJCE PROVIDER 128

KEYSIZE RESTRICTIONS ................................................................................ 131

THE SUNJGSS PROVIDER 133

THE SUNSASL PROVIDER 133

THE XMLDSIG PROVIDER 134

THE SUNPCSC PROVIDER 134

THE SUNMSCAPI PROVIDER 135

KEYSIZE RESTRICTIONS ................................................................................ 136

Lesson: Introduction to Collections

A collection — sometimes called a container — is simply an object that groups

What Is a Collections Framework?

A collections framework is a unified architecture for representing and

* Interfaces: These are abstract data types that represent collections.

Apart from the Java Collections Framework, the best-known examples of

Benefits of the Java Collections Framework

The Java Collections Framework provides the following benefits:

* Reduces programming effort: By providing useful data structures and

* Increases program speed and quality: This Collections Framework

The core collection interfaces encapsulate different types of collections, which

The core collection interfaces.

public interface Collection<E>...

To keep the number of core collection interfaces manageable, the Java

The following list describes the core collection interfaces:

* Collection — the root of the collection hierarchy. A collection represents a

* Set — a collection that cannot contain duplicate elements. This interface

* List — an ordered collection (sometimes called a sequence). Lists can

* Queue — a collection used to hold multiple elements prior to processing.

Queues typically, but do not necessarily, order elements in a FIFO (first-in,

* Map — an object that maps keys to values. A Map cannot contain

* SortedSet — a Set that maintains its elements in ascending order. Several

* SortedMap — a Map that maintains its mappings in ascending key order.

The Collection Interface

A Collection represents a group of objects known as its elements. The

constructor, known as a conversion constructor, initializes the new collection to

Suppose, for example, that you have a Collection<String> c, which may be a

List<String> list = new ArrayList<String>(c);

The following shows the Collection interface.

public interface Collection<E> extends Iterable<E> {

is designed to remove a single instance of the specified element from the

for (Object o : collection)

public interface Iterator<E> {

static void filter(Collection<?> c) {

Collection Interface Bulk Operations

Bulk operations perform an operation on an entire Collection. You could