This version is still in development and is not considered stable yet. For the latest stable version, please use Spring LDAP 3.2.10!

Preface

The Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI) is to LDAP programming what Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) is to SQL programming. There are several similarities between JDBC and JNDI/LDAP (Java LDAP). Despite being two completely different APIs with different pros and cons, they share a number of less flattering characteristics:

They require extensive plumbing code, even to perform the simplest of tasks.
All resources need to be correctly closed, no matter what happens.
Exception handling is difficult.

These points often lead to massive code duplication in common use cases of the APIs. As we all know, code duplication is one of the worst “code smells”. All in all, it boils down to this: JDBC and LDAP programming in Java are both incredibly dull and repetitive.

Spring JDBC, a core component of Spring Framework, provides excellent utilities for simplifying SQL programming. We need a similar framework for Java LDAP programming.