Osgi Application Servers: The Quiet Groundswell

The OSGi Service Platform, formerly known as the Open Services Gateway Initiative, is a Java-based specification for providing a dynamic component or service module system. OSGi has become important because virtually every major Java platform provider is in the process of implementing it as the microkernel for their next-generation application servers. IBM has already refactored WebSphere 6.1 as OSGi ‘bundles’ (components), while SpringSource has introduced an OSGi-based application server that is based on the more compact Tomcat servlet container. JBoss, Oracle, and Sun are in various stages of incorporating OSGi technology into their Java platforms. Although OSGi is implemented in Java, its dynamic service bundle architecture could also streamline server platforms for non-Java languages.