JXTA in a Nutshell

Summary

In this chapter, we used the JXTA Shell to explore the underpinnings of the JXTA framework. Each instance of the shell is a peer, and we’ve seen how multiple peers can use a variety of techniques to discover other peers. As implemented in the shell, these techniques are tied to a particular network binding (e.g., TCP), though the PDP is designed to run over any network.

Similarly, we’ve seen how the shell peers organize themselves into peergroups, another key JXTA concept. Peergroups allow for the segregation of services so that peers can more easily manage their relationships with other peers.

The communication between peers in JXTA is based on the notion of an endpoint. One key example of an endpoint is a pipe, which can provide either input or output for a peer and allows complex behavior to be built from several simple peers. Pipes form the basis of communication in JXTA; peers depend on advertisements to locate pipes and other endpoints with which they want to communicate.

The shell provides a mechanism by which we can explore and test many of these features. In the next few chapters, we’ll look into how we can develop our own JXTA applications that include these same features.