Introducing the Sample Application

This book uses a sample application to illustrate the three interoperability scenarios that Chapters 7 to 9 describe. This application is XBikes, an e-commerce application through which you can simulate ordering fantastically expensive bicycles in a variety of “go faster” colors. There are two separate implementations of XBikes, one for the .NET platform and the other version on J2EE.

Note

XBikes is not a demonstration of how to write a perfect application in either architecture. It is also not how you would write a secure Web site to sell bikes, but it provides a framework for demonstrating how to get J2EE and .NET applications to interoperate.

XBikes provides a framework and sample code for you to understand the following approaches to interoperability:

• Replace individual parts of the J2EE architecture with the equivalent .NET elements one at a time.

• Show how J2EE components can co-exist with .NET elements indefinitely.

• Demonstrate a migration path for the entire environment from J2EE to .NET.

Chapter 6 explains the XBikes application architecture in detail. The XBikes sample code is on the companion CD to this book.