Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition: Platform and Component Specifications

The goal of the session bean model is to make developing a session bean as simple as developing the same functionality directly in a client.

The container manages the life cycle of the session bean instances. It notifies the instances when bean action may be necessary, and it provides a full range of services to ensure that the session bean implementation is scalable and can support a large number of clients .

The remainder of this section describes the session bean life cycle in detail and the protocol between the bean and its container.