Introducing EE4J: The first step towards Java EE at the Eclipse Foundation

I am very excited and proud to introduce the new top-level Eclipse Enterprise for Java (EE4J) project. For those that might not have heard, Oracle has announced their intention to move Java EE to the Eclipse Foundation. Creating the EE4J top-level project is the first step to making this a reality.

Moving Java EE to the Eclipse Foundation is going to be an exciting and massive undertaking. It is a significant opportunity to use the Eclipse open development model to accelerate innovation in Java for enterprise and cloud native computing. We look forward to engaging with the millions of developers and organizations using Java EE.

The Java EE technology is a very large portfolio of source code, TCKs and specifications. Moving all of Java EE will be a significant undertaking for the community. For instance,

1. The GlassFish open source project includes 130 github repos. Moving these existing GlassFish open source projects to the Eclipse Foundation, and getting all of the various sub-projects set up and under the Eclipse development process will take some time.
2. The Java EE TCKs will be moved to Eclipse open source projects and be available to the community.  What this means and how the community interacts with the TCKs needs to be defined.
3. Create an open build infrastructure so EE4J can be built and tested by the community.
4. Establish a new specification process under the auspices of the Eclipse Foundation.

The good news is Oracle, along with IBM and Red Hat, is moving incredibly fast. Publishing the top-level project charter is an important first step. However, we are aware that there are literally millions of developers who have a vested interest in the future of the enterprise edition of the Java Platform, and who quite rightfully would like to have detailed plans now for how and when the above list are going to be completed. Unfortunately, the details are going to take some time to plan and execute. Moving Java EE to the Eclipse Foundation is going to be process, not an event. I do expect this will be an open process that encourages community members to contribute.

Today marks a very significant milestone in our journey. We are pleased to announce that the draft charter for the Eclipse Enterprise for Java top-level project is now available for community review and feedback. We have created the ee4j-community mailing list for the community to use to provide that feedback, so please subscribe to the list and join the conversation!