Feature/API Purpose
JAX-RPC Provides basic Web services interoperability support
SAAJ APIs Provides basic Web services interoperability support
Web Services for J2EE specification Defines packaging and deployment requirements for J2EE applications that provide and use Web services
JAXR API Provides access to registries and repositories
EJB specification enhancements Extended to support implementing Web services using stateless session beans
J2EE Management and J2EE Deployment APIs Enables enhanced tool support for J2EE products
JMX API Supports the J2EE Management API
J2EE Authorization Contract for Containers Provides a programmatic interface for security providers
J2EE platform specification changes/enhancements Support for deploying class libraries independently of any application; the conversion of deployment descriptor DTDs to XML Schemas
JSP specification enhancements Enhanced to simplify the development of Web applications
Connector API enhancements Supports integration with asynchronous messaging systems, including the ability to plug in JMS providers

Table 1 New J2EE 1.4 Features Here's a highlight of new features and APIs for J2EE 1.4 and their purposes.