J2EE and JavaEE are Gone. Enterprise Java is Now Called Jakarta EE

Sean Michael

Updated · Feb 27, 2018

In the world of enterprise applications, few (if any) frameworks have ever been as widely adopted and deployed as Java, and specifically, the  enterprise flavors of Java.

The first big incarnation of enterprise Java was known as J2EE. In 2006, Sun rebranded J2EE as Java EE. Now in 2018, enterprise Java is being re-branded again, though this time it’s losing the Java name.

The new name for what was Java EE is Jakarta EE. If the name Jakarta sounds familiar in an open-source context, that’s because it should. The Apache Jakarta open-source project was an umbrella effort at the Apache Software Foundation for all of its Java projects from 1999 until 2011, when the project was formally retired.

Confused yet? So the project once known as J2EE, then rebranded as Java EE is now known by the name of a defunct Apache Java effort.

The rebranding and re-naming of Java EE is all part of the move from Oracle to the open-source Eclipse Foundation which was first announced back in September 2017.

There was also one more name for the project. Since Eclipse took over Java EE, it has been known as EE4J, though apparently that was only supposed to be an interim name.

Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at EnterpriseAppsToday and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.

Sean Michael
Sean Michael

Sean Michael is a writer who focuses on innovation and how science and technology intersect with industry, technology Wordpress, VMware Salesforce, And Application tech. TechCrunch Europas shortlisted her for the best tech journalist award. She enjoys finding stories that open people's eyes. She graduated from the University of California.

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