Microsoft announced that it has joined the Eclipse Foundation Jakarta EE and MicroProfile working groups; once again strengthening support for Java developers and expanding participation in the Eclipse Foundation. Jakarta EE focuses on the overall evolution of enterprise Java, and MicroProfile focuses on optimizing enterprise Java for microservice architectures.
Foreign media pointed out that in the case of Jakarta EE, the move means that Microsoft is sitting on the same level as companies such as Red Hat, while other companies (such as Oracle and IBM) are in strategic member seats. According to the introduction , Microsoft joined the Eclipse Foundation as a solutions member in 2016 and a strategic member in 2021. Among other privileges, strategic members have a seat on the Foundation's Board of Directors, the Architecture Committee; and expanded board voting rights in key aspects of the Eclipse ecosystem, including licensing, development of governance policies, and amendments to membership agreements and bylaws.
"Our goal is to help advance these technologies to deliver better outcomes for our Java customers and the wider community," said Julia Liuson, president of Microsoft Development. "We are committed to maintaining the health and well-being of a vibrant Java ecosystem, including Spring (Spring uses several key Jakarta EE technologies). Joining these working groups is in addition to the company's participation in the Java Community Process (JCP) to help advance Java SE."
And the driving factor behind the move remains Azure. Microsoft explained that the company has made significant investments in Java, Jakarta EE, MicroProfile and Spring technology products on Azure over the past few years through strategic partnerships with Red Hat, IBM, VMware and Oracle.
Currently, Microsoft is improving support for running Quarkus on Azure, including on emerging platforms such as Azure Container Apps. Expanding investments in Jakarta EE and MicroProfile is a natural progression of the company's efforts to enable Java on Azure, Liuson said. "Our Java on Azure work is fueled by our broad and deep partnerships with key Java ecosystem stakeholders such as Oracle, IBM, Red Hat, and VMware. These strategic partners share our commitment to Microsoft's The Jakarta EE and MicroProfile journey has been a passion.”
" As part of the Jakarta EE and MicroProfile working groups, we will continue to work closely with our long-term partners. We believe our experience running Java workloads in the cloud will be of value to the working groups and we look forward to working with our customers, Partners and the community together build a strong future for Java. ”