WildFly 8

Summary

WildFly 8 is the next version of the application server previously known as JBoss Application Server. With the version 8 it makes it possible to run your Java EE 7 applications and much more!

Owner

Name: Marek Goldmann
Email: mgoldman@redhat.com
Release notes owner:

Current status

Targeted release: Fedora 20
Last updated: Marek Goldmann (talk) 12:05, 9 September 2013 (UTC)
Tracker bug: <will be assigned by the Wrangler>

Detailed Description

New name

While the name may be new, WildFly is the eigth version of the project previously known as JBoss AS.

Picking up where JBoss AS 7 left off, Wildfly 8 is JBoss' new community project for rapidly driving forward java application server innovation.

Unparalleled Speed

Experience ground breaking startup speed!

In the highly optimized boot process of WildFly 8, services are started concurrently to eliminate unnecessary waits and to tap into the power of multi-core processors. Non-critical services are kept on ice until first use.

Subsequent boots save additional time by leveraging cached or indexed metadata.

As a result, WildFly offers a 10-fold reduction in startup time over previous versions and even gives Jetty and Tomcat a run for their money.

Modular Design

Hierarchical classloaders are problematic, often causing failed deployments and quirky behavior. The time has come to say goodbye to the parent delegation model and find the path to modularity (i.e. sane classloading).

WildFly does classloading right. It uses JBoss Modules to provide true application isolation, hiding server implementation classes from the application and only loading the classes your application needs. Modules, packaged as collections of classes, are peers that remain isolated unless explicitly defined as a dependency of another module. Visibility rules have sensible defaults, yet can be customized.

Exceptionally Lightweight

WildFly takes an aggressive approach to memory management to minimize garbage collector pauses, only loads JAR files it needs and uses indexed metadata over full parses. All this keeps the memory footprint exceptionally small.

These optimizations enable AS 7 to run with stock JVM settings and on small devices. It also leaves more headroom for application data and supports higher scalability.

Server profiles can be used to trim unneeded capabilities, allowing you to make the server as lean as possible.

Strict Compliance

JBoss has always been committed to application portability to prevent vendor lock-in. That's why we are aiming to make WildFly Java EE 7 certified. But we didn't stop there!

WildFly boasts an internal test suite based on Arquillian that achieves even more strict compliance to the portability expectations of our community of users.

Benefit to Fedora

Wildfly 8 is the latest and greatest version of the application server developed by Red Hat. This release gives access to the latest technology, including Java EE 7. WildFly available in Fedora would make Fedora strong in the application server space making the platform of choice for system administrators.

Scope

The work on making WildFly available to Fedora requires two things:

Upgrading many packages, since WildFly uses newer versions of the jboss-as dependencies,
New packages need to reviewed and added into Fedora.

All of above is already done and the last package (wildfly itself) is now being reviewed.

Proposal owners: Marek Goldmann

Other developers: N/A (not a System Wide Change)

Release engineering: N/A (not a System Wide Change)

Policies and guidelines: N/A (not a System Wide Change)