This was always a less-than-optimal dependency that was conceived out of convenience rather than any solid engineering principles. Specifically, the dependency on GlassFish for building the TCK has been almost entirely removed. For the Jakarta EE 10 version of the TCK, the team has been working incredibly hard to remove these dependencies, and has made considerable progress.
#GLASSFISH RULE 34 HOW TO#
The Jakarta EE TCK has GlassFish dependencies in several places and includes many files that are specific to GlassFish, such as files that tell the TCK how to deploy test archives. It’s now a Jakarta EE implementation at the same level as all other implementations. This change means Eclipse GlassFish no longer has special standing in the specification process or any special designation. With the compatible implementation concept, any implementation can be used to ratify a new specification release. When GlassFish moved to the Eclipse Foundation and Java EE became Jakarta EE, the Eclipse Foundation Specification Process replaced the concept of a reference implementation with the concept of a compatible implementation.
Among other things, that meant an update to a Java EE specification could not be officially released until GlassFish implemented it and passed the associated Technology Compatibility Kit (TCK) tests. GlassFish was the reference implementation for Java EE for many years. From Reference Implementation to Compatible Implementation
Today, the GlassFish technology is flourishing at the Eclipse Foundation, and is being updated to strengthen its merits as an application server. Indirectly, GlassFish can be traced all the way back to the Kiva Enterprise Server from 1996. The GlassFish technology can be directly traced back to the Sun ONE Application Server 7 (S1AS 7), which was Sun Microsystem’s primary server product in 2003. The Eclipse GlassFish application server is a compatible product for every Jakarta EE release, and it has very deep roots in the Java world.