Jakarta Platform compatibility is important to different groups involved with Jakarta technologies for different reasons:

Compatibility criteria for all technology implementations are embodied in the Compatibility Rules that apply to a specified technology. The Jakarta EE 8 CTS tests for adherence to these Rules as described in Chapter 2, "Procedure for Jakarta Platform, Enterprise Edition 8 Certification," for Jakarta EE 8 and Chapter 3, "Procedure for Jakarta Platform, Enterprise Edition 8 Web Profile Certification," for Jakarta EE 8 Web Profile.

A Jakarta EE 8 CTS is a set of tools and tests used to verify that a Implementer’s implementation of Jakarta EE 8 technology conforms to the applicable specification. All tests in the CTS are based on the written specifications for the Jakarta Platform. The CTS tests compatibility of a Implementer’s implementation of a technology to the applicable specification of the technology. Compatibility testing is a means of ensuring correctness, completeness, and consistency across all implementations developed by technology Implementers.

The set of tests included with the Jakarta EE 8 CTS is called the test suite. All tests in the CTS test suite are self-checking, but some tests may require tester interaction. Most tests return either a Pass or Fail status. For a given platform to be certified, all of the required tests must pass. The definition of required tests may change from platform to platform.

The definition of required tests will change over time. Before your final certification test pass, be sure to download the latest Exclude List for the Jakarta EE 8 CTS. The definition of required tests will change over time. See Section 1.2.5, "Exclude Lists," for more information.

The Jakarta EE Specification Process (JESP) program is the formalization of the open process that has been used since 2019 to develop and revise Jakarta EE technology specifications in cooperation with the international Jakarta EE community. The JESP program specifies that the following three major components must be included as deliverables in a final Jakarta EE technology release under the direction of the responsible specification project committer group:

For further information about the JESP program, go to Jakarta EE Specification Process community page (https://jakarta.ee/specifications).

The Jakarta EE 8 CTS test suite includes compatibility tests for the following required and optional Jakarta EE 8 technologies:

The Jakarta EE 8 CTS test suite can also be used to test compatibility for the following required Jakarta EE 8 Web Profile technologies:

The Jakarta EE 8 CTS contains API tests and enterprise edition tests, which are tests that start in the Jakarta EE 8 platform and use the underlying enterprise service or services as specified. For example, a JDBC enterprise edition test connects to a database, uses SQL commands and the JDBC 4.2 API to populate the database tables with data, queries the database, and compares the returned results against the expected results.

Note: References in diagram to Java EE refer to Jakarta EE.

Figure 1-1 shows how most Implementers will use the test suite. They will set up and run the test suite with the Jakarta Platform, Enterprise Edition 8 Compatible Implementation (Jakarta EE 8 CI) first to become familiar with the testing process. Then they will set up and run the test suite with their own Jakarta EE 8 implementation. This is called the Vendor Implementation, or VI in this document. When they pass all of the tests, they will apply for and be granted certification.

The JavaTest harness version 4.4.1 is a set of tools designed to run and manage test suites on different Java platforms. The JavaTest harness can be described as both a Java application and a set of compatibility testing tools. It can run tests on different kinds of Java platforms and it allows the results to be browsed online within the JavaTest GUI, or offline in the HTML reports that the JavaTest harness generates.

The JavaTest harness includes the applications and tools that are used for test execution and test suite management. It supports the following features:

To run tests using the JavaTest harness, you specify which tests in the test suite to run, how to run them, and where to put the results as described in Chapter 7, "Executing Tests."

The tests that make up the CTS are precompiled and indexed within the CTS test directory structure. When a test run is started, the JavaTest harness scans through the set of tests that are located under the directories that have been selected. While scanning, the JavaTest harness selects the appropriate tests according to any matches with the filters you are using and queues them up for execution.

The Jakarta EE 8 CTS includes an Exclude List contained in a .jtx file. This is a list of test file URLs that identify tests which do not have to be run for the specific version of the CTS being used. Whenever tests are run, the JavaTest harness automatically excludes any test on the Exclude List from being executed.

A implementor is not required to pass or run any test on the Exclude List. The Exclude List file, <TS_HOME>/bin/ts.jtx, is included in the Jakarta EE 8 CTS.

A test might be in the Exclude List for reasons such as:

In addition, all tests are run against the compatible implementations. Any tests that cannot be run on a compatible Jakarta Platform may be put on the Exclude List if the Specification project team agrees the test is invalid. Any test that is not specification-based, or for which the specification is vague, may be excluded. Any test that is found to be implementation dependent (based on a particular thread scheduling model, based on a particular file system behavior, and so on) may be excluded.

The Jakarta EE 8 CI, Jakarta EE 8 Web Profile CI, and Jakarta EE 8 CTS require implementations of Apache Ant 1.9.7 from the Apache Ant Project (http://ant.apache.org/). Apache Ant is a free, open-source, Java-based build tool, similar in some ways to the make tool, but more flexible, cross-platform compatible, and centered around XML-based configuration files.

Ant is invoked in the Jakarta EE 8 CI, Jakarta EE 8 Web Profile CI, and Jakarta EE 8 CTS in conjunction with various XML files containing Ant targets. These Ant targets provide a convenient way to automate various configuration tasks for Jakarta EE 8 CTS. For example, the initial configuration of the Jakarta EE 8 CI or Jakarta EE 8 Web Profile CI for CTS is done by means of the config.vi Ant target.

The Ant configuration targets are there for your convenience. When configuring your Jakarta EE 8 or Jakarta EE 8 Web Profile implementation for the Jakarta EE 8 CTS, you can either set up your environment to use the Ant tools, or you can perform some or all of your configuration procedures manually. Jakarta EE 8 CTS includes the Ant Contrib package, and the tasks included with Ant Contrib are used within the CTS build files. See http://ant-contrib.sourceforge.net/ for more information about Ant Contrib.

This User’s Guide does not provide in-depth instruction on Ant internals or how to configure Ant targets for your particular Jakarta EE 8 or Jakarta EE 8 Web Profile implementation. For complete information about Ant, refer to the extensive documentation on the Apache Ant Project site. The Apache Ant Manual is available at http://ant.apache.org/manual/index.html.

Apache Ant is protected under the Apache Software, License 2.0, which is is available on the Apache Ant Project license page at http://ant.apache.org/license.html.