After a long ride, it is my pleasure to announce that Spring 3.0 GA (.RELEASE) is finally available (download page)! All of SpringSource is celebrating - join the party :-)

For some very recent news, Spring 3.0 GA is compatible with Java EE 6 final in terms of runtime environments now (e.g. on GlassFish v3 as released last week) and supports JPA 2.0 final already (e.g. using EclipseLink 2.0). We also support the newly introduced @ManagedBean (JSR-250 v1.1) annotation for component scanning now, which nicely complements our @Inject (JSR-330) support for annotation-driven dependency injection.

…

We decided to publish a further Spring 3.0 release candidate before going GA: Get it from the download page, do a round of thorough testing, and let us know how it works for you. Spring 3.0 is now waiting for your integration test feedback and will eventually go GA in mid December.

This release candidate comes with several enhancements: e.g. extended functionality in the new <mvc:*> namespace, and a further revision of startup/shutdown behavior (affecting message listeners and scheduled tasks). Feel free to give those features an early try! We are also keen to learn about upgrade experiences with existing Spring 2.5 applications since we expect many of your applications to selectively adopt 3.0 features... while keeping the majority of the code…

It is my pleasure to announce that we released the second Spring 3.0 release candidate today (download page). This release introduces key improvements over RC1 in several areas, in particular:

• Spring 3.0 RC2 is fully JSR-330 compliant and passes the final version of the TCK. JSR-330, a.k.a. "Dependency Injection for Java", basically standardizes an @Inject annotation with a qualifier model. The "javax.inject" annotations can now be used as alternative to Spring's own @Autowired and @Qualifier annotations. Spring's <context:annotation-config> element automatically activates JSR-330 processing as well (if the "javax.inject" API is present).

• A dedicated AnnotationConfigApplicationContext: making programmatic bootstrapping as convenient as possible, without any XML involved. Explicit registration of annotated classes is supported as well as component scanning in the classpath. This works fine not only with Spring's @Component model but also with @Configuration classes (a.k.a. "JavaConfig") and JSR-330 compliant classes.

  …

I'm pleased to announce that we recently released the first Spring 3.0 release candidate (download page). This release completes the key Spring 3.0 feature set. You certainly remember the original Spring 3.0 themes REST and EL; in the meantime, we have been expanding the list significantly:

• Fully Java 5 based: This is the first Spring generation which requires Java 5 or above, with Java 5 syntax used in the entire Spring API as well as in the entire implementation codebase. For example, the BeanFactory API returns generically typed bean instances wherever possible, and ApplicationListeners may declare a specific event type using generics now. For a comparison: In Spring 2.5, the actual Spring core was still JDK 1.4 compatible, while a lot of higher-level functionality was built on Java 5.

• Spring expression language (SpEL): a core expression parser for use in bean definitions, allowing for references to nested bean structures (e.g. properties of other beans) as well as to environmental data structures (e.g. system property values) through a common #{...} syntax in property values. This also serves as a foundation for various expression-based features across the Spring project portfolio.

  …

We are pleased to announce that the third Spring 3.0 milestone is available now (download page)! This release comes with many new features and refinements, including...

Reference documentation: M3 is the first Spring 3.0 milestone that comes with reference documentation, in both HTML and PDF format. Even if the documentation is still a work in progress, it does cover many 3.0 feature areas at this point already. We hope that you'll find this early cut of the documentation useful for learning more about the 3.0 milestone features.

Annotated factory methods: Spring 3.0 M3 includes the core…

We are pleased to announce that the second Spring 3.0 milestone is finally available (download page). This release comes with a wealth of revisions and new features:

Further Java 5 style API updates: consistent use of generic Collections and Maps, consistent use of generified FactoryBeans, and also consistent resolution of bridge methods in the Spring AOP API. Generified ApplicationListeners automatically receive specific event types only. All callback interfaces such as TransactionCallback and HibernateCallback declare a generic result value now. Overall, the Spring core codebase is now…

I'm pleased to announce that Spring Framework 3.0 M1 is finally available for download!

This release features several major changes, including a start of the major 3.0 themes such as EL and REST support:

• revised project layout and build system with module-based sources
• updated entire codebase for Java 5 code style (generics, varargs)
• updated to JUnit 4.5 and JRuby 1.1
• introduced Spring EL parser (org.springframework.expression package)
• introduced support for #{...} expressions in bean definitions
• introduced expression-enabled @Value annotation for embedded expressions
• introduced @PathVariable annotation for URI template handling in MVC handlers
• introduced default value support for @RequestParam in MVC handlers
• introduced @RequestHeader annotation for HTTP header access in MVC handlers
• introduced AbstractAtomFeedView and AbstractRssFeedView base classes
• introduced <spring:url> and <spring:param> JSP tags

as well as various minor enhancements.

Note that Spring Framework 3.0 requires Java 5 or above and J2EE 1.4 or above. We are building on Java 6 and Java EE 5 as the primary platform levels - but rest assured, we will retain compatibility with Java 5 enabled J2EE 1.4 servers such as WebLogic 9 and WebSphere 6.1.

We also removed/deprecated several classes that became outdated. More information…

A brief pictorial review of the SpringSource Seminar Day in Linz, having happened on September 8th, 2008, at the Bergschloessl Linz... More than 150 people were listening to a six-pack of presentations about what's new and upcoming at SpringSource. The "Story of Spring" keynote by Rod Johnson and Adrian Colyer was a great start into a day full of information: about the SpringSource Application Platform, the SpringSource Tool Suite, Spring 3.0, etc. (See the original blog announcement for details on the agenda.)

It was a pleasure to see so many people attending: from Austria as well as from Germany and Eastern Europe - and even from Norway! I hope you enjoyed the seminar and your stay in Upper Austria. Looking forward to seeing you again at the SpringOne Europe 2009 conference in Amsterdam, April 27-29... as well as at upcoming EJUG Austria…

SpringSource is organizing its first dedicated seminar day in central Europe: the SpringSource Seminar Day in Linz, Austria, on September 8th, 2008. This is a full-day seminar about current hot topics in the Spring portfolio: a rare chance to hear about what's brand-new and upcoming right from the Spring project leads! The agenda is planned as follows:

8:30 ... Open for registration
9:30 ... Welcome and introduction (by Juergen Hoeller)
9:45 ... Keynote: The Spring Portfolio (by Rod Johnson and Adrian Colyer)
11:00 ... Introducing the SpringSource Application Platform (by Rob Harrop and Eberhard Wolff)
12:00 ... Lunch break (lunch buffet provided on site)
13:00 ... Tools for Enterprise Development and Management (by Christian Dupuis and Jennifer Hickey)
14:15 ... Developing Rich Web Applications with Spring (by Keith Donald and Agim Emruli)
15:15 ... Coffee break (coffee and cookies provided on site)
15:45 ... Spring Framework 3.0 – The Next Generation (by Juergen Hoeller and Mike Wiesner)
17:00 ... Spring.NET 1.2 (by Mark Pollack and Erich Eichinger)
18:00 ... Meet & Greet at the SpringSource booth (including drinks and snacks)
19:00 ... End of the seminar

UPDATE: SpringSource's CEO Rod Johnson now to co-present the seminar keynote with CTO Adrian Colyer! Also note that we are organizing a concluding Meet & Greet session at the SpringSource booth.

The speaker list includes SpringSource's CEO Rod Johnson, CTO Adrian Colyer as well as project leads Rob Harrop, Christian Dupuis, Jennifer Hickey, Keith Donald, Juergen Hoeller and Mark Pollack. This is your chance to get in touch with SpringSource's project leads and European consultants for first-hand insight into Spring. The presentation language will be English; the overall event will be moderated in English as well as German.

The seminar will be held at the beautiful Bergschloessl Linz and allows for convenient travelling on a day trip basis (e.g. from Vienna, Salzburg and Munich). Of course, you might prefer to stay for the weekend in order to visit the city of Linz, the European Capital of Culture 2009... Tip: The famous Linzer Klangwolke happens to be scheduled for Saturday, September 6th - the weekend right before the seminar!

Linz is easy to reach by car, train and plane. The main train station is close to the venue, with direct connections from e.g. Vienna, Wels, Salzburg, Nuremberg and Frankfurt. The Blue Danube Airport Linz (LNZ) - providing direct connections from Vienna, Frankfurt, Duesseldorf, Munich and Zurich - is a 20 minutes drive away.

The admission fee for this unique opportunity is EUR 150, to be paid on arrival at the venue. Advance registration before August 11th is required: please send an email to Eva Hoeller (eva.hoeller AT springsource DOT com), stating your contact details as well as the number of seats that you would like to reserve for your company. Seating is limited, so register early!

UPDATE: This seminar is booked out at the already extended level of 145 attendees. See you there!

Juergen Hoeller
VP & Distinguished Engineer
SpringSource

Yesterday, I blogged about how Spring helps maximize application portability. Even if the portability problem has been an ongoing topic in enterprise Java land for many years, that blog was timely. Today, Oracle announced that its $6.7 billion acquisition of BEA Systems has closed. There is substantial overlap between the product sets of the two companies, so this is bound to bring uncertainty to the WebLogic and OC4J customer bases. WebLogic and OC4J may both fall into the "J2EE server" category but they are very different products with very different characteristics.

Since many enterprise…