Java Plugin Framework (JPF) 1.0.2 and 1.5.1 released

New versions of JPF are now available for download.

JPF is the open source, LGPL licensed library that is intended to provide standard plug-in infrastructure to existing or new Java projects. It helps greatly improve modularity and extensibility of Java systems and decrease their support and maintenance cost.

The Framework implements the runtime engine that dynamically discovers and runs plug-ins. A plug-in is a structured component that describes itself to the Framework using a manifest file. The Framework maintains a registry of available plug-ins and the function they provide (via extension points and extensions). To simplify deployment and distribution, plug-in may be packaged as "single ZIP file" that will be un-packed transparently in runtime when needed.

JPF package includes core runtime library, application boot utility and set of Ant tasks to automate common development routines (plug-ins versioning, packaging, documenting, integrity checks etc.)

The major changes since previous release are:
+ Maven POM files are now part of the JPF distribution package. Thanks to Jens Kocke for contribution.
+ Changed plug-in DTD to allow arrange of <extension> and <extension-point> tags in mixed order.
+ Added jpf-sort Ant task to JPF-Tools. It helps to sort plug-ins in correct order to automate build process using tasks like <subant>.
+ Added German translation of resources. Thanks to Stefan Rado for contribution.
+ Significant improvements in classloader performance. See new configuration options in org.java.plugin.standard.StandardPluginLifecycleHandler class. New performance optimizations are ON by default.
+ JPF version number is now available as system property. See org.java.plugin.PluginManager for details.

Visit project home page at http://jpf.sourceforge.net for further details, documentation and tutorial.