To truly understand J2EE and how it can help you do your job, it is important to know exactly what it is and how it came to be. Once you have done that, then understanding the architecture and technology of J2EE makes much more sense. J2EE is Java, optimized for enterprise computing. Officially J2EE stands for Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition.
Unlike the traditional Java, which is often used to build client enhancements, J2EE is designed to build server applications. Officially, the J2EE platform is "a set of coordinated specifications and practices that together enable solutions for developing, deploying, and managing" such server applications. J2EE supports SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol), a form of RPC between applications. The Java version of this is called JAX-RPC, which is the Java API for XML-based RPC. The idea with SOAP, JAX-RPC, and XML-RPC (one of the fore-runners of SOAP and still very actively in use today -- including here at ZATZ) is that applications on the Web and on servers can communicate easily across the network and between applications, regardless of what the originating and receiving environments may be.Thats the power of Java and J2EE.
