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Overview: Getting Involved
 
JCP Participation: Open to Everyone
The JCP gives you a chance to have your own work become an official component of the Java platform and to offer suggestions for improving and growing the technology. Either way, everyone in the Java community benefits from your participation. That's one of the reasons the JCP is open to everyone.
 
Anyone can join the JCP and have a part in its process either as a member or as a non-member public participant.
 
Visit the Becoming a Member page to start your application.
 
Please use the appropriate contact alias if you have any questions.
 
How To Get Involved
You can participate in the JCP in three ways:
 
Public:
Anyone with an Internet connection can review and comment on:
  1. all specifications developed using the JCP (Public Review),
  2. all proposals for new or revised specifications (JSR Review), and
  3. all proposed error corrections and changes to existing specifications (Maintenance).
Member:
Any individual, organization, or company that signs the Java Specification Participation Agreement (JSPA). (Members may also be called Participants elsewhere on this web site.) Members enjoy all the privileges of Public participation, plus they can:
  1. propose new or revised Java API specification projects by filing a JSR,
  2. nominate themselves to serve on the Expert Groups that create or revise Java specifications (when the JSR is initiated, or during JSR Review),
  3. review and comment on all specifications developed using the JCP before Public review (Community Review).
Expert:
Any Member can nominate an Expert to serve on one of the Expert Groups that write Java specifications. Experts can:
  1. actively shape the content and direction of new and revised Java specifications (Expert Group),
  2. review comments from Members and the Public and use them to improve the quality of a specification (Community Review,Public Review),
  3. an Expert who is a JCP Member may serve as the Specification Lead of the Expert Group and be responsible for choosing the other members of the Expert Group and for completing the specification, its reference implementation, and associated compatibility test suites (Initiate A New or Revised Specification, Create the Community Draft, Complete the Specification),
  4. a JCP Member on an Expert Group may assume responsibility for maintaining a specification after it is written (Maintenance Lead).
 
Important: 2 JCP versions and 2 agreements
Depending on the JSRs that you plan to participate in there are two different agreements that you need to sign. The so-called JSPA 2 is for submitting your our JSR proposals and for participating in JSRs that use JCP 2.5. The so-called JSPA 1 is for participation in JSRs that use JCP 2.1. You can request this document by contacting the PMO. On each JSR page it says which JCP version it uses. You can find more information on the Becoming a Member page and the FAQ page.
 
Participation in the JCP by Key Events
  Public Member:
JSPA signee
Review JSRs Yes Yes
Submit JSRs   Yes
Lead JSRs   Yes
Review Community Drafts   Yes
Review Public Drafts Yes Yes
Join an Expert Group   Yes
Vote in Executive Committee elections   Yes
Serve on Executive Committee   Yes
Attend JCP Member events   Yes
 
The JCP has two Executive Committees (EC)-Standard/Enterprise Edition & Micro Edition; each targets different markets for the Java Platform. Voting Members on each EC serve 3-year terms; there are 10 Ratified Seats, 5 Elected Seats, and the permanent seat held by Sun Microsystems, Inc. The 3-year terms are staggered so that 5 of the 15 seats are normally up for ratification/election each year.
 
The EC Members guide the evolution of the Java technologies. The EC represents a cross-section of both major stakeholders and other members of the Java Community. EC duties are: select JSRs for development, approve draft Specifications for Public Review, approve Final Specifications, review TCK appeals, approve Maintenance revisions and possibly defer some features to a new JSR, approve transfer of maintenance duties between members and provide guidance to the Program Management Office (PMO).
 
For more information, go to the Executive Committee page.
 
JCP Members
For a list of the companies and organizations who are JCP Members, visit the Member List.
 
JCP Mailing List
To stay informed on JSRs and when they become available for community (member) or public comments, be sure to join the JCP Mailing List for announcements from the PMO on each proposal as it moves through the review and approval process.  
 
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