OSGI In Action Book

Java language provides the modularity when designing and coding applications using the Object Oriented Design and Programming concepts. But it doesn't provide a mechanism to take the Java code designed and developed using modular concepts (OOP) to deploy in a modular fashion. This is where OSGi technology comes into picture. You can organize the Java classes using the packaging structure and the scope of the classes to control the visibility of a class to other classes, but when it comes to deploying the applications, you have to package them in a monolithic WAR file or an EAR file which don't provide too much flexibility in controlling what classes and libraries (JAR files) that you want to bundle in the application archive files. This limitation has led to the JEE container vendors come up with proprietary implementations of addressing the modularity aspect (e.g. You can deploy an EAR file as a common library, instead of an application, in WebLogic server).

This is the main focus of the book OSGi in Action by authors Richard S. Hall, Karl Pauls, Stuart McCulloch, and David Savage. It's a good addition to OSGi resources and for the Java developers who are currently using or considering using OSGi technology in their applications.

The book starts with the discussion on what is modularity, Java's modularity limitations related to classpath and limited modular deployment support in Java model and explains how OSGi technology addresses these limitations.

The authors talk about the two parts of OSGi Platform:

• OSGi framework (this is the run-time environment that provides OSGi functionality) and
• OSGi standard services framework (which defines the reusable APIs for tasks such as Logging and Preferences).

They also discuss the three layers of OSGi specification:

• Module Layer: This layer covers the packaging and sharing the code. It defines the OSGi module concept, called a Bundle, which is a JAR file with extra meta-data.
• Lifecycle Layer: This layer provides the run-time module management and access to the underlying OSGi framework. It defines the bundle lifecycle operations like install, update, start, stop, and uninstall.
• Service Layer: This layer covers the interaction and communication among modules, specifically the components contained in them.

The authors discuss the Bundles concept in OSGi, how to define them with metadata and the benefits of modularizing the program. These benefits include:

• Logical boundary enforcement
• Reuse improvement
• Configuration verification
• Version verification
• Configuration flexibility

The event model support in OSGi is also covered.

OSGi Event Model
The OSGi framework supports two types of events:

• BundleEvents (these events report any changes in the lifecycle of bundles) and
• FrameworkEvents (these events report the changes in the framework).

The authors also talk about the OSGi design patterns such as Listener and Whiteboard and some OSGi anti-patterns in the areas of updating a bundle. Best practices in managing the versioning of packages and bundles, how to run multiple versions in the same JVM with the example of a Preferences service.

The discussion in the book includes a sample Java application (paint program). The application build and package examples use Ant as the build tool. It would have been nice if they used Maven tool which is what I use at work for building and packaging the Java applications.

There is also discussion on how to test the OSGi applications using mock objects approach when calling the OSGi APIs and container testing to discover any potential class loading or visibility issues. The OSGi test tools listed are OPS4J's Pax-Exam, Spring DM's test support, and Dynamic Java's DA-Testing.

Topics like debugging Java applications and embedding the OSGi framework in applications are also covered. Security, another important aspect in enterprise application deployment, is also covered in detail.

To put OSGi in perspective, the authors also talk about how OSGI relates to other technologies like Java Enterprise Edition, Jini, NetBeans Platform, Java Management Extensions, Lightweight containers (PicoContainer, Spring, and Apache Avalon), Java Business Integration (JBI), JSR's 277 (module system for Java) and 294 (Improved Modularity Support in the Java Programming Language), Service Component Architecture (SCA) and .NET technology.

Overall, this book is an excellent resource for Java developers of all levels of expertise in OSGi technology.