| WebLogic Server is an industrial−strength application server developed and marketed by BEA Systems, Inc. of San Jose, California. WebLogic is a pure−Java implementation of the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition, more commonly known as J2EE. J2EE represents Sun’s serious effort to make Java a powerful platform for developing enterprise applications. It defines a set of runtime architectures, network services, and application programming interfaces (APIs) that make it easy for developers to write distributed, network−aware software components and applications. WebLogic has long been recognized as one of the best ( if not the best ) J2EE implementations on the market.
Note Although this book is not intended to be a tutorial on J2EE, WebLogic and J2EE are so tightly bound that you will inevitably learn a great deal about J2EE from this book. For the most part, however, I will assume that you are already familiar with J2EE.
The current shipping version of WebLogic Server is 6.1. Version 6.1 has a lot in common with its immediate predecessors, especially versions 5.1 and 6.0, but there are also significant differences. Therefore, instead of trying to cover multiple versions of WebLogic Server, this book focuses on version 6.1.
Like a database or mail server, WebLogic runs almost invisibly on a computer and provides services to clients that connect to it. The most common use of WebLogic is to deliver secure, data−driven applications to Web clients over corporate intranets or the Internet. But WebLogic can also be used as a general−purpose application server for non−Web clients such as wireless devices and desktop applications. Basically, if you can design it with J2EE, you can build it and run it with WebLogic. |