JAX : Java Glossary

Originally, jax was a jar file with a *.jax instead of *.jar extension. It contained a special entry in the manifest to tell which class file in the jar is the main one. A JAX file could be directly executed, just like a *.exe file with the appropriate associations. As of Java version 1.2 you can execute jar files directly.

Now, JAX means any software involving both Java and XML (extensible Markup Language). For example:

• JAX-WS refers to WSDL (Web Services Description Language) and SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol).
• JAX-RS refers to RESTFUL services.
• JAXP (Java Api for XML Processing) is the basic parsers similar to JDBC (Java Data Base Connectivity). JAXP is an umbrella for W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) DOM (Document Object Model) + SAX (Simple API for XML) + StAX.
• JAXB (Java Api for XML data Binding) is binding between XML and Java objects similar to JPA (Java Persistence Api).
• JAXR (Java Api for XML Registries)
• SAX + DOM. low level access.
• Xpath