What is OSGi and which applications already applied it?

Question

Recently I learn about OSGi and still don't know what is the difference between it and DLL (Dynamic Library Linking in Windows). And will it attract more developers and companies to Java world?

And can you list out some applications already applied OSGi. For now, I only know GlasshFish 3, have to admit that the performance was increased significantly in comparison with version 2.

Answer 1

Spring DM server is based on OSGi. The Eclipse project is the most popular project that is based on OSGi. OSGi gives the ability to start, stop and switch modules at runtime without the need for any restarts or redeployments. It gives the ability to build applications based on a plugin architecture.