This book combines the Java EE design patterns with the Spring Framework. The Java EE design pattern catalog provides an invaluable reference for any Java EE application design and architecture. The Spring Framework, on the other hand, is the de facto standard for Java EE. Spring, with its inherently simple programming model and emphasis on object design best practices, has helped revive and increase the adoption of the Java EE platform. I have been using the Spring Framework in combination with design patterns to build Java EE applications for a long time now. This book is an effort to document a catalog of frequently used design strategies with the Spring Framework, which is relevant in the context of the latest Java 5 EE specifications. I am sure this book will be a reference for designers and developers who are interested in building enterprise applications with Java EE and the Spring Framework.

This book is structured in a very simple way. Chapter 1 starts with an introduction to the fundamental concepts in enterprise application architecture. It analyzes various architectural styles in distributed computing, and it introduces UML as the tool for the visual representation of application design. Chapter 2 introduces the Spring Framework and its role in building enterprise Java applications. This chapter also highlights the design pattern template that will be used in the next four chapters. Chapter 3 explains the design problems in the presentation tier and presents solutions with the Spring MVC framework. Chapter 4 elaborates on the business tier design patterns. This chapter also shows Spring’s support for simplifying EJB development.