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Lesson 1

Introduction to JavaBeans

This course teaches you how to
  1. design,
  2. develop, and
  3. use
reusable JavaBeans software components.

Course goals

After completing this course, you will know how to:
  1. Design your own Custom Beans from scratch.
  2. Develop the complete source code for your own Beans.
  3. Build and test your Beans using the tools in the JDK and BDK.
  4. Package your Beans in a compressed form ready for distribution and integration into applications and/or development tools.

What are JavaBeans?

JavaBeans is a component architecture that is platform neutral, which means that it uses the Java capability of "Write Once, Run Anywhere" for the development of reusable components. This capability allows developers to create and then use these components in combination with an organization's existing applications, regardless of the operating system or application environment involved, whether it is within the organization or across the Internet.
JavaBeans is one of the most important developments in Java since its inception. It is Java's component architecture, which allows components built with Java to be used in graphical programming environments. Graphical development environments let you configure components by specifying aspects of their visual appearance (like the color or label of a button) in addition to the interactions between components (what happens when you click on a button or select a menu item).
This means that someone can use a graphical tool to connect some Beans together and make an application without actually writing any Java code, in fact, without doing any programming at all. Developing an application is not necessarily a matter of producing thousands of lines of code that can only be read by computer professionals. It is more like working with Lego blocks: you can build large structures using snap-together pieces. The result is that applications can be created by people who are good at designing user interfaces and aspects of the interaction between the user and the computer. The guts of an application can be written by software developers, who are great at coding, but not necessarily good at understanding users. This is how it should be, and in fact how it is in many other industries. The engineer who designed the engine of your car is certainly not the same person who designed the interior. JavaBeans allows us to make the same kind of distinction in the software business.

JavaBeans are reusable software components for Java that are designed to be manipulated visually in a builder tool. They are written in the Java programming language and are used to encapsulate many objects into a single object known as the bean. JavaBeans are used in software development to provide a standard way of representing and using reusable components in Java-based applications. They are often used to create user interfaces, to represent business logic in enterprise applications, and to provide a means of connecting applications to other systems or resources. To use a JavaBean in a Java application, you typically import the class or classes that define the bean and then create an instance of the bean. You can then use the methods and properties of the bean to manipulate its state and behavior. They are also used in other types of Java-based applications, such as web applications, mobile applications, and rich client applications.

JavaBeans Developers Resource