What version of a JSR should a J2EE container implement?

Question

Is it acceptable for a J2EE container to provide an implementation that complies with the public review version of a JSR, as opposed to the final draft (or even proposed final draft) ? I'm not sure on how to quantify/qualify the word 'acceptable' in this context, but what would be the 'gold standard' for stating that an implementation is adequate ? Is complete compliance with the TCK required ?

This is more or less born out of frustration with the JAX-WS 2.0 implementation in the Web Services Feature Pack for IBM WebSphere 6.1 - apparently, WSDLs are not generated for JAX-WS webservices if they have a SOAP 1.2 binding defined using the @BindingType annotation. When I last checked the JAX-WS 2.0 specification, one of the changes had removed this ambiguity (present in the public review in section 3.8, but clarified in the proposed final draft).

Answer 1

The unfortunate truth is that it's "acceptable" to do whatever is "accepted" by users and users often don't have any say on the matter, being bound to a particular implementation for one reason or another.

WebSphere in particular is known for playing fast and loose with specs (Google websphere jsp problem for an example); to IBM's credit they usually fix those issues sooner or later (emphasis on later) but that's not much help for here and now.

Answer 2

I'm not sure on how to quantify/qualify the word 'acceptable' in this context, but what would be the 'gold standard' for stating that an implementation is adequate ? Is complete compliance with the TCK required ?

Yes ... as an absolute minimum. You should also expect compliance to the letter and spirit of the spec in areas that are not covered by the TCK.

But I'm not sure how this helps you, assuming that you are already committed to using some specific J2EE implementation. Unfortunately, there is nothing you can force a software supplier to conform with relevant standards, or particular versions of standards. The most you can do is take your business elsewhere.