2

I'm using a very old version of JBoss (4.2.3) and now I'm looking to upgrade (6.0). I'm using almost the full javaee stack, plus a million other things, but almost all of my jars are included in the war file itself.

Since I'm doing that do I really need JBoss? I tried plugging my existing war into the new JBoss and saw errors, but I was able to plug it into Tomcat 7 without any hassle at all. Personally Tomcat seems much simpler, more lightweight, and probably more stable so why should I not just stick with that?

If I've already fetched all the jars I need (including a few jboss jars actually) do I really need a full JBoss server? Am I making some huge mistake trying to avoid the bloat and going with just tomcat?

Adeel Ansari
  • 39,541
  • 12
  • 93
  • 133
Franky
  • 259
  • 1
  • 5
  • I see people downvoting the question. I bet it is because its title formulated flamewar-like. You should have asked something like "JBoss: versioning and dependencies challenges of the default upgrade path". ;-) – Vladimir Dyuzhev May 10 '11 at 04:05
  • note that JBoss AS 6 is [only certified for the Java EE 6 Web Profile](http://community.jboss.org/thread/160813). JBoss AS 7 is just around the corner, so JBoss 6 is likely to have a very short shelf-life. – McDowell May 10 '11 at 09:34

2 Answers2

4

I'm using almost the full javaee stack

No, you're not. You're not using EJBs and JMS for a start. And I guess clustering too, otherwise this:

I was able to plug it into Tomcat 7 without any hassle at all

wouldn't work.

My take on it: if it works with Tomcat, use Tomcat. Simple things work.

Vladimir Dyuzhev
  • 18,130
  • 10
  • 48
  • 62
1

It seems like you are not using EJB and stuff, as Tomcat doesn't have a EJB container, and you are fine with Tomcat.

In case you are using JBoss specific jars, I would suggest you to stick with JBoss. Or if you want to go with Tomcat, you should get rid of JBoss specific jars. BTW, what JBoss specific things you have?

[Edited after receiving more info in comments]

Hibernate would fine with Tomcat. But if you are using JBossMQ, then Tomcat may not be for you. Because Tomcat doesn't support JMS stuff. You should stick to JBoss, or if you are really looking for some simpler alternative, then I would recommend you to take a look at GlassFish. As GlassFish is a full blown JavaEE server, and offers EJB, JMS stuff. However, JBoss is widely used in the industry, as compared to GlassFish, AFAIK.

BTW, JBossMQ is replaced by JBoss Messaging in JBoss 5. And then that, JBoss Messaging, is also replaced in JBoss 6 by HornetQ. Look at this SO Thread.

If you are very much inclined towards Tomcat, then you can go with Tomcat along with ActiveMQ -- for JMS stuff. You need to configure that in your Tomcat, plus you would definitely need to change your code, if that is not very standard JMS thing. Further, do test your application thoroughly, especially JMS part, as there may be some behavioural differences.

Community
  • 1
  • 1
Adeel Ansari
  • 39,541
  • 12
  • 93
  • 133
  • I am using Hibernate and I use JBoss jars mainly for JBossMQ. I should say I haven't fully tested all of this yet. I just plugged my war into the two servers and observed that JBoss 6 blew up instantly and Tomcat looked fine when I ran some quick sanity checks. If I have the jars I need, do I still need JBoss? It seems like upgrading will just add conflicting jars to my path and force me to either upgrade my code or start ripping apart JBoss. – Franky May 10 '11 at 03:53
  • Hibernate is a standalone library, needs no JBoss. JBossMQ is not supported anymore AFAIR since JBoss 5. – Vladimir Dyuzhev May 10 '11 at 04:07
  • Hibernate would fine with Tomcat. But if you are using JBossMQ, then Tomcat may not be for you. Because Tomcat doesn't support JMS stuff. You should stick to JBoss, or if you are really looking for some simpler alternative, then I would recommend you to take a look at GlassFish. As GlassFish is a full blown JavaEE server, and offers EJB, JMS stuff. – Adeel Ansari May 10 '11 at 04:09
  • @road to yamburg: Yes, you are right. It is replaced by JBoss Messaging. And then that is also replaced in JBoss 6 by HornetQ. – Adeel Ansari May 10 '11 at 04:11
  • 2
    Will those guys stop replacing things?! It feels like Microsoft now with DDE/OLE/ActiveX/...! – Vladimir Dyuzhev May 10 '11 at 04:16
  • Errr... to my personal taste JBoss is easier than GlassFish. – Vladimir Dyuzhev May 10 '11 at 04:17
  • May be. Regarding HornetQ, its actually based on JBoss Messaging, so I think it wouldn't be very different from JBoss Messaging 2.0. – Adeel Ansari May 10 '11 at 04:22
  • I understand Tomcat doesn't support JMS stuff, but is there anything that would stop it from working if I had the correct jars and files? It sounds like JBoss6 doesn't support what I need either so, so far, I still haven't heard why I am completely wrong about leaning towards Tomcat. I have a feeling upgrading my app to JBoss6 would be a huge ordeal and just further lock me into that vendor. The simplicity of Tomcat is probably what I want (why wouldn't everyone want simple though?). – Franky May 10 '11 at 04:23
  • You can go with Tomcat along with ActiveMQ then, for JMS stuff. You need to configure that in your Tomcat, plus you would definitely need to change your code, if that is not very standard JMS thing. Further, do test your application thoroughly, especially JMS part, as there may be some behavioural differences. – Adeel Ansari May 10 '11 at 04:28