What Does JavaBeans Mean?
JavaBeans are reusable software components that can be manipulated visually. Practically, they are Java classes that follow certain conventions.
Like Java, JavaBeans also follow the “write once run anywhere” paradigm. They are persistant, and have the ability to save, store and restore their state. They are also used to encapsulate many objects in a single bean. Thus, they can be passed around in a single bean object instead of multiple individual objects. JavaBean features such as properties, events and methods are managed by the builder tool. These properties can be customized at design time.
Techopedia Explains JavaBeans
Reusability is the main concern behind the component model. Software components provide predefined services, which allow for easy access to applications.
The builder tool is a platform that allows a developer to work with JavaBeans. Through the design mode of the builder tool, the developer can customize the bean’s appearance (by modifying its behavior), interaction with other beans, and compose the bean into applets, applications or servlets.
JavaBeans have conventions that should be followed when they are implemented:
- Beans should have a default (no-argument) constructor.
- Beans should provide getter and setter methods. A getter method is used to read the value of a readable property. To update the property’s value, a setter method should be called.
- Beans should implement java.io.serializable, as it allows applications and frameworks to save, store and restore the state of a JavaBean.