A specification has been posted for Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) 6, which will feature support for frameworks and other technologies that work with the platform. Java EE 6 is slated to be ready in late-2008.Java Specification Request 316, found here, notes that in the past eight years, the platform has grown to cover a range of enterprise and Web development needs while fostering a marketplace for additional technologies, frameworks and application that work with Java. “A major theme for this release is to embrace and support those technologies as part of the overall Java EE landscape, while also continuing to simplify the platform to better target a wider range of developers,” the JSR stated.The platform will feature extensibility for layering or plugging of technologies into Java EE application servers. This includes technologies useful to Web or enterprise developers.To refocus Java, the specification proposes introduction of Java EE platform profiles, which reference Java EE and may include a subset of platform technologies and additional JCP (Java Community Process) technologies not part of the platform. An expert group is slated to define the first version of Java EE Web Profile, a subset of Java EE for Web application development. Also, the platform is to be pruned of technologies that are no longer of critical importance. Technologies that may be cut include EJB CMP (Enterprise JavaBeans Container-Managed Persistence), which has effectively been replaced by Java Persistence, and JAX-RPC (Java API for XML-based RPC), replaced by JAX-WS (Java API for XML-based Web Services).Meanwhile, Java EE 6 will need to consider additional Web services support, to incorporate new versions of technologies. Service Component Architecture facilities may be included in the enterprise Java platform. Updates to a host of technologies are being considered by Java EE 6, including Enterprise JavaBeans, Java Persistence API and JavaServer Faces. Among the JSRs that may be included in Java EE 6 include JSR-196 Java Authentication SPI for Containers, JSR-299 Web Beans and JSR-311 JAX-RS-Java API for RESTful Web Services. JSR 316 was submitted by Sun on July 3. It is subject to a ballot process until July 16.Java EE 5, the predecessor to Java EE 6, was released in 2006. Software Development