JNDI and Its Uses in Java

1. Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI) in Java
2. Uses of JNDI in Java
3. Advantages and Disadvantages of JNDI in Java

This article will discuss what JNDI (Java Naming and Directory Interface) is, its primary use, and when it is used. It also compares the pros and cons of JNDI in Java.

Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI) in Java

Java programs may use the name and directory capabilities of JNDI, an application programming interface (API).

It is possible to utilize it in distributed systems, which means that even if a system has numerous servers, it may still share the information throughout all of the servers.

• For instance, you may use a JNDI directory to store configuration data such as the IP addresses of application servers, and apps will be able to retrieve this information.
• JNDI is intended to operate independently of any directory service implementation. As a result, users may access a wide range of directories, including those that are new, developing, and already implemented.

Uses of JNDI in Java

You can access many different kinds of data by using JNDI, such as objects, devices, files of name and directory services, and so on. For instance, EJB uses it to locate remote objects.

JNDI was developed to provide a standardized entry point to pre-existing services such as DNS, NDS, LDAP, CORBA, and RMI.

Therefore, you should have the JNDI classes and one or more service providers to utilize the JNDI. The Java 2 SDK offers three different service providers for the name and directory services listed below:

• Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)
• Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) Common Object Services (COS) name service
• Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) Registry

Therefore, you first build objects and then register them on the directory services so that you can look them up and carry out operations on them later.

Advantages and Disadvantages of JNDI in Java

Following are some of the advantages that JNDI offers:

• When you use a deployment sequence in which applications migrate from devl->int->test->prod environments, you may cover up the actual database used by using the same JNDI name in each environment.
• When applications migrate across environments, they do not need any changes to be made.
• Naming activities, such as read operations and operations for modifying the namespace, can be executed using the JNDI.
• The number of people that require access to a database in production may be kept to a minimum. JNDI’s usage may remain hidden from anyone except the Java EE application server.
• As long as the resources are listed in a JNDI directory, your code may access them on a single computer or in a distributed environment.
• We can create new apps that are strong and portable. Also, it uses Java’s object model and is well connected with the environment in which they are deployed.

One of the disadvantages is given below:

• One of the drawbacks is the absence of a default security model; however, some implementations offer APIs for establishing encrypted connections to directory services.