"Service Component Architecture (SCA)" is a relatively new but important initiative advocated by major vendors of Java EE technology. Its proponents claim it is more natively suited for the delivery of applications that conform with the principles of service-oriented architecture. As such, SCA components are supposedly more technology agnostic. Sponsoring vendors include a vendor of technology solutions that competes with Java.
Sun not included
A major omission in the list of vendors is Sun_Microsystems. Sun, as the champion of the Java Community Process (JCP), promotes the use of "Java Business Integration"(JBI) as a standard for the implementation of Enterprise_Service_Bus. The JCP route is not being followed by SCA [1].
Further Analysis
Gartner has a short brief that concluded that the SCA included technology of Service Data Object (SDO) will enjoy more rapid adoption due to its maturity [2].
Advantage:
- caters for all existing Java_platform technologies
- less technology dependence - does not have to rely on the Java_programming_Language, nor XML
Disadvantage:
- lack of initial support by Microsoft reduces the relevancy of SCA for a large number of potential clients.
SCA is said to provide interoperability through an approach called "Activation". It is the method that provides the highest degree of component autonomy, compared to older "mediation" (e.g. JBI) or "Invocation" method used in JCA, as explained by an architect at SAP [3].
External links
- SCA Announcements at OASIS web site
- Service Data Objects initial work by BEA and IBM
- Comparing WCF and SCA
- Reality bites J2EE again
- Summary of SCA
- BPEL on SCAroids?