Mailing-List: contact tomcat-dev-help@jakarta.apache.org; run by ezmlm
Message-ID: <396A149F.5A11A907@eng.sun.com>
Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2000 11:23:27 -0700
From: "Craig R. McClanahan" <Craig.McClanahan@eng.sun.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: tomcat-dev@jakarta.apache.org
Subject: Tomcat, Catalina, and Java2
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Dear Tomcat Developers,

As you are probably aware, the next versions of the servlet (2.3) and
JSP (1.2) specifications are currently being developed, under the Java
Community Process as described at:  <http://java.sun.com/jcp>.  In
particular, the specs are being developed under Java Specification
Request (JSR) #53, which is documented at:

http://java.sun.com/aboutJava/communityprocess/jsr/jsr_053_jspservlet.html

Normally, the requirements in new Java specifications are not available
to the general public until the "Proposed Final Draft" of the
specification is published on the JavaSoft web site.  While the new
servlet and JSP specs are not yet to that stage, I have received
authorization to pre-announce one of the proposed specification
requirements that has significant impact on future Tomcat development:
The current drafts of the servlet 2.3 specification include a dependency

on the Java2 Standard Edition (J2SE) API.  At this time, the JSR-053
expert group expects that this dependency will also be reflected in the
first public draft of the specification.

Please note that the proposed J2SE dependency, like all other features
of the new specs, will be subject to further feedback once the
specification is subject to public review.

What does this mean for Tomcat and Catalina?  In the short term, plans
are under way to implement the new features of servlet 2.3 and JSP 1.2
on the Catalina architecture, and propose Catalina (to the TOMCAT-DEV
community) as the code base for a future Tomcat 4.0 release that
supports these new specifications.  (Prior to that time, the remaining
features of Tomcat 3.2 that are not yet supported by Catalina will also
be migrated).  Making the Java2 dependency known now lets us start
migrating the Catalina code base to Java2 now (such as switching to the
collections classes), and will vastly simplify the integration of other
features (such as taking advantage of the Java2 security model, and
secure JNDI access to internal components) later.  The actual
implementation of Servlet 2.3/JSP 1.2 features into the CVS repository
cannot happen until the specs are public, but by then Catalina will be
in good shape to implement them immediately.

I would not recommend changing the existing Tomcat 3.2 code base, which
has support for both JDK 1.1 and Java2 environments (with some pretty
intricate code to mitigate the differences).  Tomcat 3.x should continue

to support both platforms, based on the Servlet 2.2 and JSP 1.1
specifications.

If you have any comments or questions about how this announcement should

affect Catalina (and Tomcat), it is appropriate to discuss them here.
Comments on the proposed specification requirements can be directed to
the specification leads for Servlet 2.3 and JSP 1.2, at:

    jsr-053-leads@eng.sun.com

Craig McClanahan