Red Hat has announced the general availability of Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (JBoss EAP) 8. This latest iteration of the platform promises enhanced security features, more efficient cloud workflow tools, and full compatibility with Jakarta EE 10, offering customers an efficacious pathway to application modernisation and continuous support for enterprise Java application development.
Application modernisation has emerged as a crucial strategy for businesses, with data from 451 Research, a part of S&P Global Market Intelligence, showing that over half (51%) of organisations intend to increase spending in this area, regardless of the current economic context. This suggests an ongoing commitment to modernisation without an end point.
The growing adoption of cloud-based application development also underscores the importance of a user-friendly developer experience, robust application enlargement, and improved provider support in cloud environments, Red Hat states. This is where JBoss EAP comes into play as a comprehensive solution, supporting businesses as they strive to build, run, manage, and deploy Jakarta EE (formerly Java EE) applications across a range of environments, including on-premise, virtual, and private, public, and hybrid clouds.
JBoss EAP is tailored for the adaptable requirements of the open hybrid cloud and utilises a modular architecture that only initiates services as they become necessary. The platform, known for its minimal memory footprint and rapid startup times, holds appeal for all environments where efficient resource use is critical - for instance, on Red Hat OpenShift. JBoss EAP 8 leverages the cloud-native capabilities of its predecessor, JBoss EAP 7, to further enhance developer productivity, reduce operational complexity, and simplify the road to modernisation.
Some of the key advancements in JBoss EAP 8 include support for Jakarta EE 10, which enables businesses to extend the lifespan of their enterprise Java applications. New provisioning tools have also been introduced, giving developers and operations teams greater control over the deployment of their Jakarta EE applications on any deployment target, from bare metal and virtual machines to the cloud or Red Hat OpenShift. Additionally, the new platform features an array of security enhancements, including native support for OpenID Connect, thus facilitating easier integration of JBoss EAP with OpenID Connect compliant platforms.
Reflecting on the latest release, Joe Fernandes, Vice President and GM, Hybrid Cloud Platforms at Red Hat, stated: "Application modernisation continues to be a top priority for customers. Red Hat JBoss EAP 8 delivers enhancements that provide upgraded security integration and reduce operational overhead, enabling customers to not only extend the product life cycle for modern applications, but to take advantage of cloud-native platforms that provide a connected foundation for applications to run seamlessly across environments."
Support for the application's new release also comes from Scott Hunter, Vice President of the Microsoft Developer Division, who stated, "We believe in the power of choice and flexibility for customers in their efforts to bring Java to the cloud. Red Hat JBoss EAP, when combined with Microsoft Azure's Infrastructure and managed offerings like App Service, empowers our customers to embrace a 'cloud-first' approach without sacrificing existing Jakarta EE applications, and the latest updates continue to drive this innovation forward."