JSR-299 defines a set of services for the Java EE environment that makes applications much easier to develop. JSR-299 layers an enhanced lifecycle and interaction model over existing Java component types including JavaBeans and Enterprise Java Beans. As a complement to the traditional Java EE programming model, the services provide:

an improved lifecycle for stateful components, bound to well-defined contexts,
a typesafe approach to dependency injection,
interaction via an event notification facility, and
a better approach to binding interceptors to components, along with a new kind of interceptor, called a decorator, that is more appropriate for use in solving business problems.

JSR-299 is especially useful in the context of web applications, but is applicable to many different kinds of applications and may even be used in the Java SE context, in conjunction with an embeddable EJB Lite container, as defined in the EJB 3.1 specification.

The specification was heavily influenced by Seam and Google Guice. The Expert Group is led by Red Hat.

Web Beans, the JSR-299 RI (Reference Implementation) and the JSR-299 TCK (Technology Compatibility Kit) are being developed here at seamframework.org. Both are licensed under the Apache License 2.0.

Learning more about JSR-299 and Web Beans

To learn more about Java Contexts and Dependency Injection and Web Beans, start with the Introduction to Web Beans guide, which explains Web Beans from the point of view of the developer. Then, if you want to get into the nitty details, move on to the Public Draft specification.

Both of these can be found in the Documentation section.

Downloading Web Beans

Releases of Web Beans are now available and can be found in the Download section.

Read this guide to getting started with the examples in the distribution. You'll also need JBoss AS 5.0.1.GA and Apache Ant 1.7.

User discussion forum

The Web Beans Users Forum forum is the place to ask questions or make suggestions about Web Beans and specification. Please share your experiences!

How does Seam relate to Web Beans?

The two technologies share a common goal of providing a unified, contextual, programming model for Java Web Applications. Both provide integration of EJB and JSF.

However, Seam is a superset of Web Beans. Think of Web Beans as the core of a future Seam - it's the basic programming model for your application components, and for the built-in components that make up the Seam framework. Based on this programming model, Seam provides a full framework for application development, including integration with various non-standard open source technologies. In the future, Seam will probably not be the only application framework based upon Web Beans!

On the other hand, many features and ideas in Web Beans were inspired and tested in Seam first. (Others originated in other frameworks, particularly Google Guice).

Will Seam become Web Beans?

Not quite - Web Beans is just the core programming model. The future of Seam is:

a Web Beans-based core,
the application framework, ported to the new programming model, and
support for the Seam 2.x components with full interoperability.

Seam will continue to be the vehicle which delivers BPM integration, Seam Security, PDF and email rendering, etc.