J2EE with EJB and Weblogic Interview Questions II
- I plugged in a version of Apache Xalan that I downloaded from the Apache Web site, and now I get errors when I try to transform documents. What is the problem? - You must ensure that the version of Apache Xalan you download from the Apache Web site is compatible with Apache Xerces version 1.3.1. Because you cannot plug in a different version of Apache Xerces , the only version of Apache Xerces that is compatible with WebLogic Server 6.1 is 1.3.1. The built-in parser (based on version 1.3.1 of Apache Xerces) and transformer (based on version 2.0.1 of Apache Xalan) have been modified by BEA to be compatible with each other.
- How do I increase WebLogic Server memory? - Increase the allocation of Java heap memory for WebLogic Server. (Set the minimum and the maximum to the same size.) Start WebLogic Server with the -ms32m option to increase the allocation, as in this example:
$ java ... -ms32m -mx32m ...
This allocates 32 megabytes of Java heap memory to WebLogic Server, which improves performance and allows WebLogic Server to handle more simultaneous connections. You can increase this value if necessary.
- What causes Java.io exceptions in the log file of WebLogic Server? - You may see messages like these in the log file:
(Windows NT) java.io.IOException Connection Reset by Peer java.io.EOFException Connection Reset by Peer (Solaris) java.io.Exception: Broken pipe
These messages occur when you are using servlets. A client initiates an HTTP request, and then performs a series of actions on the browser:
- Click Stop or enter equivalent command or keystrokes
- Click Refresh or enter equivalent command or keystrokes
- Send a new HTTP request.
The messages indicate that WebLogic Server has detected and recovered from an interrupted HTTP request.
- What is the function of T3 in WebLogic Server? - T3 provides a framework for WebLogic Server messages that support for enhancements. These enhancements include abbreviations and features, such as object replacement, that work in the context of WebLogic Server clusters and HTTP and other product tunneling. T3 predates Java Object Serialization and RMI, while closely tracking and leveraging these specifications. T3 is a superset of Java Object. Serialization or RMI; anything you can do in Java Object Serialization and RMI can be done over T3. T3 is mandated between WebLogic Servers and between programmatic clients and a WebLogic Server cluster. HTTP and IIOP are optional protocols that can be used to communicate between other processes and WebLogic Server. It depends on what you want to do. For example, when you want to communicate between a browser and WebLogic Server-use HTTP, or an ORB and WebLogic Server-IIOP.
- What are the enhancements in EJB 2.0 specification with respect to Asynchronous communication? - EJB 2.0 mandates integration between JMS and EJB. We have specified the integration of Enterprise JavaBeans with the Java Message Service, and have introduced message-driven beans. A message-driven bean is a stateless component that is invoked by the container as a result of the arrival of a JMS message. The goal of the message-driven bean model is to make developing an enterprise bean that is asynchronously invoked to handle the processing of incoming JMS messages as simple as developing the same functionality in any other JMS MessageListener.
- What are the enhancements in EJB 2.0 with respect to CMP? - EJB 2.0 extends CMP to include far more robust modeling capability, with support for declarative management of relationships between entity EJBs. Developers no longer need to re-establish relationships between the various beans that make up their application — the container will restore the connections automatically as beans are loaded, allowing bean developers to navigate between beans much as they would between any standard Java objects.
EJB 2.0 also introduces for the first time a portable query language, based on the abstract schema, not on the more complex database schema. This provides a database and vendor-independent way to find entity beans at run time, based on a wide variety of search criteria. - Can you briefly describe local interfaces? - EJB was originally designed around remote invocation using the Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) mechanism, and later extended to support to standard CORBA transport for these calls using RMI/IIOP. This design allowed for maximum flexibility in developing applications without consideration for the deployment scenario, and was a strong feature in support of a goal of component reuse in J2EE. Many developers are using EJBs locally - that is, some or all of their EJB calls are between beans in a single container. With this feedback in mind, the EJB 2.0 expert group has created a local interface mechanism. The local interface may be defined for a bean during development, to allow streamlined calls to the bean if a caller is in the same container. This does not involve the overhead involved with RMI like marshalling etc. This facility will thus improve the performance of applications in which co-location is planned. Local interfaces also provide the foundation for container-managed relationships among entity beans with container-managed persistence.
- What are the special design care that must be taken when you work with local interfaces? - It is important to understand that the calling semantics of local interfaces are different from those of remote interfaces. For example, remote interfaces pass parameters using call-by-value semantics, while local interfaces use call-by-reference. This means that in order to use local interfaces safely, application developers need to carefully consider potential deployment scenarios up front, then decide which interfaces can be local and which remote, and finally, develop the application code with these choices in mind. While EJB 2.0 local interfaces are extremely useful in some situations, the long-term costs of these choices, especially when changing requirements and component reuse are taken into account, need to be factored into the design decision.
- What happens if remove( ) is never invoked on a session bean? - In case of a stateless session bean it may not matter if we call or not as in both cases nothing is done. The number of beans in cache is managed by the container. In case of stateful session bean, the bean may be kept in cache till either the session times out, in which case the bean is removed or when there is a requirement for memory in which case the data is cached and the bean is sent to free pool.
- What is the difference between creating a distributed application using RMI and using a EJB architecture? - It is possible to create the same application using RMI and EJB. But in case of EJB the container provides the requisite services to the component if we use the proper syntax. It thus helps in easier development and lesser error and use of proven code and methodology. But the investment on application server is mandatory in that case. But this investment is warranted because it results in less complex and maintainable code to the client, which is what the end client wants. Almost all the leading application servers provide load balancing and performance tuning techniques. In case of RMI we have to code the services and include in the program the way to invoke these services.
