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GlassFish vs Payara: What are the differences?
Introduction:
GlassFish and Payara are two popular Java application servers that are used to deploy and run Java EE (Enterprise Edition) applications. While both have similar functionalities, there are key differences between them that can help you decide which one is best suited for your specific needs.
Development and Community Support: One major difference between GlassFish and Payara is the level of development and community support. GlassFish is an open-source project that is mainly driven by Oracle, with contributions from the community. On the other hand, Payara is a community-driven fork of GlassFish that receives more frequent updates and releases. Payara also has a strong community support system, with regular bug fixes and new features being contributed by the community.
Stability and Reliability: Payara is known for offering a more stable and reliable runtime environment compared to GlassFish. Payara ensures backward compatibility for applications developed on GlassFish, while also providing crucial bug fixes and enhancements to improve its overall stability. The Payara team prioritizes fixing critical issues and provides long-term support for their releases, making it a favorable choice for enterprise-level deployments.
Administration and Management: Payara provides additional administration and management features compared to GlassFish. It includes a centralized admin console with an improved user interface, enhanced monitoring and clustering capabilities, and powerful scripting tools for automation. These features make it easier to manage and deploy applications in complex production environments, which can save time and effort for administrators.
Compatibility: Payara maintains compatibility with the GlassFish APIs, allowing developers to seamlessly migrate their applications from GlassFish to Payara without any major changes or modifications. This ensures that existing applications can be easily transitioned to Payara, taking advantage of its added features and improvements.
Enterprise Support: Payara offers professional support and services for organizations that require additional assistance and expertise. These support packages provide access to technical support, training, and consulting services, ensuring that organizations can get help when they need it. GlassFish, on the other hand, offers support through Oracle's enterprise support program, which may have different pricing and service levels.
Updates and Patches: Payara is known for providing more frequent updates and patches compared to GlassFish. Payara releases regular updates and extensions to ensure that the server is up-to-date with the latest developments in the Java ecosystem. This can be advantageous for organizations that require the latest security fixes, performance improvements, and new features.
**In Summary, GlassFish and Payara have key differences in terms of development and community support, stability and reliability, administration and management features, compatibility with GlassFish APIs, availability of enterprise support, and frequency of updates and patches. These differences make Payara a more favorable choice for organizations seeking a stable, reliable, and well-supported Java application server.