Java equivalent for MEF in .NET

Question

Hi,

Does the Netbeans Rich-Client Platform Development provide the same in Java as MEF in .NET?

Is there is any other built-in easy way in JAVA to do pluggable applications?

Thanks

Answer 1

The main contender is probably OSGi. Can't say I've developed with it myself, but it's what Eclipse uses:

The OSGi Alliance is a worldwide consortium of technology innovators that advances a proven and mature process to create open specifications that enable the modular assembly of software built with Java technology. The OSGi Service Platform facilitates the componentization of software modules and applications and assures interoperability of applications and services over a variety of networked devices. The OSGi Service Platform is delivered in many Fortune Global 100 company products and services and in diverse markets including enterprise, mobile, home, telematics and consumer.

That's a huge amount of buzzword bingo, but I think it provides functionality broadly like MEF.

Answer 2

For simple cases, you put the implementation in a Jar with the appropriate manifest, and use ServiceLoader to load the instances. It's not as automagical as MEF, but much less complicated than OSGi.