If you didn't get a chance to watch the live broadcast of TechCast Live with Ajay Patel and Justin Kestelyn, you can now watch the on-demand replay below using our handy embedded video player. In this edition of TechCast Live, Justin and Ajay covered a wide range of important topics including:

1) The importance of the Java community
2) Future directions in the JCP
3) JavaOne
4) How Glassfish fits into Oracle's Application Server portfolio
5) JavaFX 2.0

And much more. Oh, and Justin: from all of us here at the Java Source, thanks for the shout-out!

With the approval of Java SE 7 and Java SE 8 JSRs last month, attention is now shifting towards the Java EE platform.  While functionality pegged for Java EE 7 was previewed at least as early as Devoxx, the filing of these JSRs marks the first, officially proposed, specifications for the next generation of the popular application server standard.  Let's take a quick look at the proposed new functionality.

Java Persistence API 2.1
The first of the new proposed specifications is JSR 338: Java Persistence API (JPA) 2.1. JPA is designed for use with both Java EE and Java SE and:

"deals with the way relational data is mapped to Java objects ("persistent entities"), the way that these objects are stored in a relational database so that they can be accessed at a later time, and the continued existence of an entity's state even after the application that uses it ends. In addition to simplifying the entity persistence model, the Java Persistence API standardizes object-relational mapping." (more about JPA)

JAX-RS 2.0
The second of the new Java specifications that have been proposed is JSR 339, otherwise known as JAX-RS 2.0. JAX-RS provides an API that enables the easy creation of web services using the Representational State Transfer (REST) architecture.  Key features proposed in the new JSR include a Client API, improved support for URIs, a Model-View-Controller architecture and much more!

More information
Official proposal for Java Persistence 2.1 (jcp.org)
Official proposal for JAX-RS 2.0 (jcp.org)
Kicking off Java EE 7 with 2 JSRs: JAX-RS 2.0 / JPA 2.1 (the Aquarium)

The nights are getting darker, the email traffic seems to be getting lighter and the holiday season feels like its right around the corner - but the world of Java is still as active as ever and shows no signs of taking a break!  Let's take a look at everything that has been brewing over the past couple of weeks:

Product Updates and Resources

• JCP Approves JSRs for Java SE 7, Java SE 8, Project Coin and Lambda (read more)
  
• Java SE Update 23 Released, delivers improved performance and enhanced support for right-left languages. (read more or download)
• New Tutorial: JDK 7 Support in NetBeans IDE 7.0
• Java EE 6 and Glassfish 3.0 have celebrated their respective one year anniversaries!  (read more) So naturally, it's time to start talking about Java EE 7 (read more)
  

Webcasts

• On Demand: Developing Rich Clients for the Enterprise with the JavaFX Composer, Part 1
• Coming soon: Smarter Devices with Oracle's Embedded Java Solutions

Podcasts

• Java Spotlight Podcast Episode 7: Interview with Adam Messinger, Vice President of Java Development on Java One Brazil, Java SE Development, OpenJDK, JavaFX 2.0 and more! 
  
• The NetBeans team released Episode 53 of the NetBeans Podcast series on December 3rd marking the first episode in nearly 12 months.  Sign of things to come?
  

Community and Events

• JavaOne was held for the first time in Brazil this year, and by all accounts it was a great success!  Read more about this exciting first in the following posts from Tori Wieldt (JavaOne Latin America Underway) and Janice Heiss (JavaOne in Brazil)
• JavaOne was also held in Bejing for the first time last week and was also a huge success. Will try to include coverage of this event in the near future

Articles and Interviews

• An update on JavaServer Faces with Oracle's Ed Burns (read more)
• Interview with Java Champion Matjaz B. Juric on Cloud Computing, SOA, and Java EE 6 (read more)
• The 2010 JavaOne Java EE 6 Panel: Where We Are and Where We're Going (read more)
  

Oracle Magazine
The latest issue of Oracle Magazine is up and in what will hopefully be a sign of the future, it includes a number of columns and articles on Java.  First is an editorial from Editor-in-Chief Tom Haunert who shares some insight into the long-standing relationship that Oracle has had with Java. Next up is a Oracle Technology Network Chief Justin Kestelyn's Community Bulletin entitled: Java Evolves.  And finally, Java Champion Adam Bien's feature on Java EE 6: Simplicity by Design

Enjoy!

As you may know, the JCP recently held its Executive Committee Election.  Oracle's Henrik Ståhl has posted a blog entry providing some color and commentary surrounding the results of the election.  In his words:

"The results of the JCP EC elections are now available. We are happy to see that two of our three nominations - Apache and Red Hat - were elected. Our third one - Hologic - was to our regret not."

To read the remainder of Henrik's comments, you can check out his blog posting on the subject. As you may have heard, there was also some controversy surrounding certain nominations, and if you missed the Oracle response from Oracle's VP of Development Adam Messinger, you can read it here.

There have been a number of individuals and articles that have raised concerns around a Java Community Process Executive Committee nomination made by Oracle.  To address these concerns, Oracle Vice President of Development Adam Messinger has voiced his thoughts in a well-worded and genuinely voiced response to a blog by Stephen Colebourne.    Quick excerpt:

"Hologic has bet their business on Java -- not as a supplier of Java, but as a consumer -- and we think having their perspective on the EC is valuable. They are absolutely representative of a large cross section of the Java community."

and

"Finally, on the topic of "stacking" the board, I believe that our re-nomination of both RedHat and Apache speaks volumes about our interest in having many voices at the table. Similarly I reached out to Josh Bloch of Google to encourage him to renominate himself."

Henrik Stahl has captured Adam's comment in his own blog as well.