Which is the best EJB container for learning EJB?

Question

I'm planning to dive into EJB so I'm looking for a simple EJB container.

Advantages:

• Eclipse plugin
• zero install
• good community support (forum, blog)

Answer 1

Glassfish would be a good choice. Especially since its a relatively small download, starts up really fast and is always up to date with the Java EE specifications.

JBoss AS isn't really that bad either. It's also free, but is a somewhat larger download, starts up slower and not being the reference implementation means its always a little behind Glassfish. Although the Java EE edition of Eclipse bundles a WTP adaptor for JBoss AS, you'd be better off installing the separate adaptor from JBoss tools if you want incremental deployment.

I did find the JBoss community to be really helpful, especially the EJB and overall JBoss AS communities (via the JBoss forum).

Answer 2

I'd sugest you GlassFish AS. It is free and also has full implementation of the Java EE spec.