Building Java Enterprise Applications

What’s Next?

You’ve made it through the creation of the data storage mediums, a major milestone in application design. As I have said several times, this portion of the framework will govern much of the rest of the application. Most notably, the data access layer is purely a reflection of the work already done here. We’ll discuss this access in the next chapter, and work on allowing programmatic access to the data stores discussed here. This access will serve the rest of the application as well as components from other applications that may need data from the Forethought application.

Also in the next chapter, you’ll get your first look at Enterprise JavaBeans, and in particular entity beans. We’ll also examine the role of JNDI for allowing access to the directory server structures created in this chapter. In other words, we’ll be running the gamut of Java approaches to accessing data in databases and directory servers. Once finished, you will have a functioning data layer for the application, with both a solid foundation and a set of sturdy beams, struts, and scaffolding upon which to build. Let’s go onto this additional structure now (or at least after you’ve refilled your coffee and taken a deep breath).