Calling all open-source Java developers working with UDDU. Get out your library cards.
IBM , Hewlett-Packard
, and SAP AG
Thursday say they are pledging to support UDDI4J, an open-source Java class library that supplies an application-programming interface (API) for interacting with Universal Description Discovery and Integration (UDDI) registries.
The news follows UDDI.org‘s Nov. 19 announcement that these companies along with Microsoft launched beta versions of public UDDI Business Registries.
UDDI is a Web-based distributed directory that enables business to list themselves on the Internet and discover each other, similar to a traditional phone book’s yellow and white pages.
UDDI4J benefits Java developers by giving them a common API for programmatically registering services as well as for querying and accessing information in UDDI-based registries. If companies are on the same page with UDDI4J, it also benefits the Web services industry as a whole by reducing hurdles associated with creating Web services tools.
“As an advocate of both the UDDI and the open source movement, supporting UDDI4J makes sense for HP,” says HP Middleware Division CTO Jack Walicki. “Industry agreement on a common Java API for UDDI registries is critical for the success of service-centric computing. HP’s contributions to UDDI4J further demonstrate our commitment to our customers as well as to the Java and Web services communities.”
IBM originally made UDDI4J available as open source in January 2001. HP played an active role with IBM in UDDI4J by enhancing the original UDDI4J API to meet the new UDDI V2 specifications.
And because it is primarily a business tool, SAP’s role has been to help develop business-driven APIs to ensure rapid adoption of UDDI4J in the business community.
“Web services and UDDI provide essential building blocks to facilitate business on a global level through the Web,” says SAP AG senior vice president application integration Willi Therre.
