The Red Hat OpenShift Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) now supports Java Enterprise Edition (EE) 6 and, as such, becomes the first Java EE6 implementation in a PaaS model. Powered by the JBoss application server as an element of the JBoss Enterprise Application Platform, Red Hat's ace in the hole here is a simplified route for application developers to build and deploy Java in the cloud.
OpenShift is described as a free PaaS for open source developers looking for a faster on-ramp to the cloud with built-in management and auto-scaling capabilities. Red Hat has positioned OpenShift as a means of enabling developer focus to rest on coding applications while leaving stack setup, maintenance, and operational concerns to a "trusted hosted" service.
First announced in May 2011, OpenShift supports an arguably attractive blend of open source languages, frameworks, databases, and clouds, including Ruby, Python, Perl, PHP, Java EE, Spring, MySQL, SQLite, MongoDB, MemBase, and Memcache.
OpenShift Java EE 6 support is based on JBoss Application Server 7, an open source JBoss Community project. Red Hat reminds us that JBoss application servers are Java EE-certified; this provides a "cloud-ready architecture" with a lightweight footprint and dynamic container model — and this in turn leads to better multi-core processing and multi-tenancy.
"With this announcement, Red Hat has solved multi-tenant problems with its expertise in providing full-stack support. Combining our technology expertise from the hypervisor through the operating system and middleware to the cloud, our technology is integrated to allow for easier development of applications with free Java EE in PaaS," said Brian Stevens, CTO and vice president, Engineering at Red Hat.
Content and Dependency Injection (CDI)
By delivering JBoss in OpenShift, developers can take advantage of Java EE 6 and use Content and Dependency Injection (CDI), a standards-based, modern programming framework that makes it easier for developers to build dynamic applications.
Red Hat says that CDI offers a more robust set of capabilities, including eventing support and typing, delivering optimal flexibility for programmers. Additionally, as an open standard, more vendors support and contribute to the specification, allowing developers to have their choice of programming approaches without vendor lock-in.
"While developers and enterprises have long been interested in the time to market advantages offered by PaaS platforms, the difficulty of migrating existing applications to incompatible frameworks has slowed adoption," said Stephen O'Grady, principal analyst and cofounder of RedMonk. "With EE6 available by integrating the JBoss application server technology, Red Hat's OpenShift platform is aimed at allowing enterprises to transition their existing Java EE applications and skills to the cloud with zero friction."
