Chapter 10. Don't Redo It, Reuse It: LDAP JavaBeans

Java is an object-oriented language that lends itself well to encapsulating functionality as components. The JavaBeans specification takes this encapsulation a step further, defining how a component publishes its properties and methods and how other components can discover and access those properties and methods. Many Java development environments support the JavaBeans specification. Because of this support, you can write a component that complies with the specification, and that component can be dropped into the component palette of any of these Java development environments. The component you write can be used again in future projects or by other developers, who need no knowledge about the component's implementation.

Directory SDK for Java includes a few sample JavaBeans. Although each JavaBean does very little, each one provides a single piece of commonly used directory functionality. The JavaBeans also encapsulate some of the implementation details of LDAP, which means that developers can use these JavaBeans without knowing very much about LDAP.