What Does Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition Mean?
Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) is the former name for Java EE, Java’s platform for servers. While the Java EE nomenclature, introduced in 2006, simply means Java Platform Enterprise Edition. The enterprise edition of Java is used for creating Web and enterprise applications.
Techopedia Explains Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition
J2EE came into existence sometime in 1999 as one of the specialized platforms under Java 2. Other included platforms were J2ME for mobile devices and J2SE for regular applications.
Developing a Java EE application requires the Java EE Software Development Kit (SDK). The SDK contains all the tools needed for building, testing and deploying a software application. For faster development, graphical Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) like Netbeans, JBuilder, and Eclipse can be used. Crucial parts of the Java EE SDK come from the combined efforts of Sun Engineers and the open source community known as GlassFish.