CJAN
| Company type | Open source project |
|---|---|
| Industry | Software development, Java programming |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Founder | Brian Tol |
| Defunct | 2004 |
| Products | Java archive repository and distribution network |
CJAN refers to the Comprehensive Java Archive Network, which served as a counterpart to CPAN, the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network. Development on the CJAN initiative ended in 2004.
Apache CJAN
Apache CJAN was among the initial web services designed to distribute Java Jar files, launched prior to May 2001. The project was discontinued in favor of the more advanced Apache JJAR effort.
Apache JJAR
Apache JJAR represented a prototype distributed repository and toolkit for locating and retrieving Java archives. Although it achieved its foundational objectives and found limited use within specific communities, it did not attain widespread adoption due to insufficient developer engagement. While no longer maintained, the project remains accessible on Apache servers.
CJAN.org
Introduced in November 2001 by Brian Tol, CJAN.org sought to establish a comprehensive repository for Java components akin to CPAN’s role in the Perl ecosystem. Its unique features included support for Java Jar files and a distributed network design aimed at scaling with user expansion while reducing server expenses. The platform was built entirely in Java from the ground up.
In early 2002, Michael Davey joined Brian Tol to collaborate on defining specifications and creating a prototype. As an open-source passion project, development progressed slowly, partly because crucial open-source Java libraries were missing, compelling the team to develop and advocate for these foundational elements themselves. The distributed system architecture depended heavily on the nascent JXTA framework, which provided only rudimentary control mechanisms.
Sun Microsystems expressed interest in CJAN during early 2003. Following discussions involving the founders and members of the Apache community, Sun partnered with Collab.Net and O'Reilly Publishing to launch the Java.net community and website on June 11, 2003.
Ultimately, CJAN.org did not succeed due to its overly ambitious goals and dependence on emerging technologies. Meanwhile, Java.net’s debut—although lacking a comprehensive component directory—garnered a substantial user base by offering sufficient features that diminished the need for CJAN’s services within the Java developer community.
See also
References
External links
- Apache.org JJAR – an operational web service and toolkit; currently an abandoned experimental project
- Java.net CJAN wiki page
- SourceForge.net CJAN project documentation – contains code and documents though active development has ended
- Java.Net – the most active repository related to CJAN for the Java development community