Java, Jakarta EE (formerly Java EE/J2EE), and JBoss/WildFly (often mentioned together) serve distinct but complementary roles in enterprise software.
Java is a general-purpose programming language used to build anything from desktop tools to Android apps and backend services. Its portability (“write once, run anywhere”) made it a staple for banking systems, airline reservations, and Android development.
Jakarta EE is not a language but a set of enterprise specifications layered on Java—covering web services, servlets, transactions, security, and messaging. It standardizes how large, distributed applications are built, such as e-commerce platforms and government portals.
JBoss/WildFly is an application server that implements Jakarta EE specs. It provides the runtime environment where these applications are deployed and managed.
JavaScript operates on the other side of this architecture—the user interface. Running inside web browsers (and increasingly on servers via Node.js), JavaScript powers the interactive frontends users see. Modern frameworks such as React, Angular, and Vue help developers build responsive, component-driven interfaces that communicate with Java backends through APIs. While Java handles business logic and transactions, JavaScript frameworks handle presentation, user experience, and real-time interaction.
JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) is the lightweight data format these systems commonly use to exchange information. Whether a Java-based service communicates with a web frontend or another enterprise system, data is typically sent and received as JSON because it’s human-readable, language-independent, and ideal for APIs and RESTful services.
In practice: a bank’s loan processing system may be written in Java, designed using Jakarta EE standards, run on JBoss/WildFly for scalability and security, expose REST APIs that send JSON, and present customer dashboards built with a JavaScript framework like React.
The name and logo
Java was originally called Oak by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems. During renaming, the team chose “Java” after the Indonesian island famous for coffee. The red coffee-cup logo with rising steam reflects this origin. The steam lines subtly suggest dynamism and portability, echoing Java’s promise of platform independence.
* EE stands for Enterprise Edition
