Do I need a App Server to run JAX-WS

[Luke Murphy]

Hi,
I am just wondering from the perspective of JAX-WS what does an APP server give me?
For example, with Java SE you get an internal HTTP Server and it is possible to publish simple WebServices which use JAX-WS annotations?
What does the App Server give me? Are there some sophisticated features which I must have an AppServer to use? Besides the obvious making a stateless EJB a WebService?

What else is there?

Thanks

[Ivan Krizsan]

Hi!
No, you don't need an application server to run a web service.
An application server may give you additional benefits, such as monitoring of deployed services, use of virtual servers etc.
It may also be possible to buy commercial support for an application server, in which case you can blame someone else when your services dies on you.

You don't even need an application server to develop a web service implemented by an EJB. There is OpenEJB which allows you to run an EJB container almost anywhere.
Best regards!

[Ulf Dittmer]

Most JAX-WS implementations are servlet-based, so you would need a servlet container. While the Java 6 JRE has a bare-bones server built in, I advise to use Tomcat or something similar.