Summary

This chapter was an introduction to new JBoss AS 5 functionalities. JBoss AS 5.0 has a completely new architecture based on the Microcontainer with POJOs and AOP, which support dynamic loading and unloading of services on the top of it.

The structure of the application server also had some significant changes with the introduction of the new common/lib repository for the application classes and the add on of the deployers directory, which is the foundation for the new deployment framework, designed around the concept of a virtual file system.

JBoss AS 5.0.0.GA introduces two new configurations—the standard and the web configuration. The standard configuration is the configuration that has been tested for Java EE compliance. The web configuration is a new experimental lightweight configuration created around JBoss Web that provides support for servlet/JSP container, as well as JTA/JCA and JPA.

In the next chapter, we're going to install the components needed to develop an application with JBoss AS 5. Setting up your environment doesn't require particular sysadmin skills; however, it will require about half an hour (depending on how fast your network is) to complete all the necessary steps.