# Apache Beehive

Apache Beehive is a discontinued Java Application Framework that was designed to simplify the development of Java EE-based applications. It makes use of various open-source projects at Apache, such as XMLBeans. Apache Beehive uses Java 5, including JSR-175, a facility for annotating fields, methods, and classes so that they can be treated in special ways by runtime tools. It builds on the framework developed for BEA Systems WebLogic Workshop for its 8.1 series. BEA later decided to donate the code to Apache.

## History

Version 8.1 of BEA's WebLogic Workshop includes several improvements over version 7.0. The previous version was focused on creating industrial-strength web services quickly, and it failed due to low adoption and use. For version 8.1, BEA created a whole new Integrated Development Environment (IDE), which helped programmers to develop Java EE-based applications more quickly. The improvements in Version 8.1 over Version 7 garnered several awards.
Although Workshop 8.1 only had limited success, the WebLogic Workshop Framework, which was developed for the 8.1 version Workshop, was recognized as a solid framework. In order for it to be used with other Java EE-based application servers, BEA decided to open-source the project under the purview of the Apache Software Foundation. The latest version of Beehive was released on December 4, 2006, and retired to Apache Attic in January 2010.

## Beehive components
### Netui Page Flows

This is an application framework built on top of Apache Struts that allows easier tooling and automatic updating of the various Struts configuration files.

### Controls

Controls are the core of the Beehive framework. A control can be defined as a program that can be used by the developer to access enterprise-level resources, such as Enterprise Java Beans (EJBs), web services etc. For example, consider accessing an old legacy EJB 2 bean. It involved a lot of routine code like getting access to a home interface, creating/finding an EJB using finder methods, and then accessing the remote methods of the bean. Using a control simplifies this process by handling most of the routine coding for the developer, letting them work on business logic rather than the inner-details of Java EE technology. Controls are also useful to advanced developers, allowing them to concentrate on things like constructing a Facade to a complex set of application APIs. In essence, a control to a legacy EJB 2 been ensured that the developer could simply use the control and call any business method of the EJB, using it in the same way as any other Java class. When EJB 3 came around, such simplification was already provided by the EJB specification itself, And Beehive controls were of little further use here. The Controls come with a standard set of controls wiz EJB Control, Web service Control, Database Control and JMS Control. Custom controls can also be developed, which in turn could make use of the controls already built-in.

### Web services

This third component of Beehive enables a developer to create web services using meta-data/annotations. By using meta-data/annotations one can create complex web services utilizing features like conversation, state etc. Since all the metadata/annotations are in one file, it is easier to debug and maintain. Using this approach, any plain Java class can be converted into a web service just by the addition of annotations into the Java source files. This is based on JSR-181 which builds on JSR-175.