JavaBeans Unleashed

Definition of a Bean

The ease of changing a Java object into a bean makes the JavaBeans component specification look deceptively simple. Although you can create beans by simply creating Java objects with private data fields accessed through special public accessor methods, a bean must support all five of the following features:

• Properties or private data fields

• Events or the ability of the bean to send event notifications of internal property changes to other beans, applications, or scripting languages

• Introspection or the ability of objects, external to a bean, to analyze how the bean works

• Customization or the ability of objects, external to a bean, to customize the appearance or behavior of the bean

• Persistence or mechanisms that result in saving ...