(From the Java Developer's Journal Newsletter)

Did you use EJBs in your last J2EE project? Many Java programmers (and their managers and CIOs) would consider this a strange question. "How can it be a J2EE project if it doesn't include EJBs?" they might ask. The answer is: Sun currently lists 11 J2EE component technologies of which EJB is but one; of equal importance are servlets, JavaServer Pages (JSP), and JDBC. In fact, a recently released research report by Gartner, Inc., reveals that most Java projects do not use EJBs, but rely exclusively on servlets/JSP. (While not specifically mentioned in the Gartner report, I would guess that a high percentage of those projects also use JDBC.)

How is it that EJBs have become synonymous with J2EE in the minds of so many people? One answer is the natural tendency of software vendors to try to sell you the most expensive product. Is a commissioned salesperson going to sell you an inexpensive servlet/JSP solution if he or she can convince you to buy an "enterprise" application server (with EJB!) for 10 times as much? The tendencies of human nature should make the answer to that question fairly obvious.