Jini and Network Computing/Introduction

The original Jini toolkit and specification was developed by Sun Microsystems. It was released under a flurry of marketing pointing at toaster automation and a kitchen full of communicating gadgets.

Jini is now an Apache License Version 2 licensed, open source, community driven and supported system. The specification provides the compatibility control. The licensing of the specification and Sun Microsystems contributed implementation under the ALV2 license provides the opportunity for everyone to participate in the continued evolution of this powerful technology.

Jini exploits the RMI programming model to make use of mobile Java code. The original Java Applet mechanism demonstrated the power of downloading software on the fly to perform a task that was not programmed into the environment of the user. The Java Platform/Java Security Model allows a secure and predictable outcome to software running in an instance of The Java Platform/Java Virtual Machine. In The Jini Platform/Jini 2.0, the The Jini Platform/Jini Extensible Remote Invocation API provided extensions to the Java Security Model which provided more control over security.

The Jini and Network Computing section contains more information on using Jini for advanced network computing.