What exactly Java EE6 and do I have choice not to include some of features?

Question

When I looked into Java EE6 doc and some other articles, Java EE6 is a platform.

To me, platform is just Java with bunch of API/framework available like JSF, JPA, Web services like REST. (more like bunch of jars maybe?)

So anyway I got Netbean6.9/Java EE6/GlassFish v3 bundle but figured I don't need JSF at all.

Is there a way to remove JSF from Java EE6 so that I can save some disc space on my server?

Sorry if my statement doesn't make sense because I'm not fully understand what exactly Java EE6 by reading documentation.. (or this JSF is bundled with Netbean6.9...)

Update:

I'm building REST web app so far using JAX-RS and JPA (toplink essential) and for UI side, JSF was going to be used but we decided not to, so wondering if things that won't get used can be removed. (after reading comments I think removing JSF is not good idea though)

Answer 1

In order to be J2EE certified there are certain requirements that must be met, and removing some of the functionality may cause problems.

For a nice discussion on what it means to be certified, you can start with this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_Platform,_Enterprise_Edition

A Java EE application server can handle transactions, security, scalability, concurrency and management of the components that are deployed to it, in order to enable developers to concentrate more on the business logic of the components rather than on infrastructure and integration tasks.

If you find that you don't want to use much of J2EE you can look at something like the Spring framework (http://www.springsource.org/) which will offer more capabilities than just tomcat/jetty, but you can add/remove the parts you don't need, though you will need to include the core.

If you just need JAX-WS for example, then you can just add that manually, but, depending on your application you may find that there are many parts you will eventually need to make your life easier.

Answer 2

Java EE is a set of interfaces/annotations/etc for performing tons of different kinds of tasks commonly needed when building, well, 'Enterprise' applications. (the definition of which is its own multipage thread.) Glassfish is includes an implementation for each of the different APIs that make up JavaEE. Basically, when you use Glassfish, you can just go ahead and use anything in a 'javax ' package and it will be there for you, working. (although sometimes not the most performant or scalable implementation available...)

There are several options for java web containers that don't include implementations of the entire J2EE API built in. Tomcat and Jetty are probably the two most popular and widely used. Tomcat installs and integrates right into netbeans very well. But if you find yourself wanting to use something in most javax packages, you will need to provide an implementation, include the jar files yourself, etc.

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Also, as an aside, the very, very nice Glassfish administration console (which is to me the chief motivator for using Glassfish) is done in JSF, so no, you can't really remove it :)

Answer 3

Regarding JavaEE, you don't need any jar file, but only a compliant application server, Glassfish in your case. And no, you can't remove features you don't need. But you don't have to use them if you don't want to... ;-)