<s>
Apache	B-Application
LDAP	I-Application
API	I-Application
is	O
an	O
open	B-Application
source	I-Application
project	O
of	O
the	O
Apache	O
Software	O
Foundation	O
and	O
a	O
subproject	O
of	O
the	O
Apache	B-Application
Directory	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
's	O
a	O
replacement	O
for	O
outdated	O
Java/LDAP	O
libraries	O
like	O
(	O
jLdap	O
,	O
Mozilla	O
LDAP	B-Protocol
SDK	O
and	O
JNDI	B-Language
)	O
and	O
works	O
with	O
any	O
LDAP	B-Protocol
server	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Apache	B-Application
Directory	I-Application
project	O
was	O
started	O
using	O
the	O
JNDI	B-Language
library	O
,	O
but	O
many	O
of	O
its	O
LDAP	B-Protocol
structures	O
had	O
to	O
be	O
developed	O
in-house	O
because	O
the	O
JNDI	B-Language
library	O
was	O
ineffective	O
for	O
interacting	O
with	O
an	O
LDAP	B-Protocol
server	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
n't	O
convenient	O
for	O
the	O
project	O
team	O
to	O
use	O
JNDI	B-Language
which	O
indicated	O
to	O
them	O
it	O
would	O
n't	O
be	O
easy	O
for	O
typical	O
users	O
either	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Eventually	O
,	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
necessary	O
LDAP	B-Protocol
data	O
structures	O
( _Attribute_	O
,	O
_Entry_	O
,	O
_DN_	O
,	O
...	O
)	O
were	O
re-implemented	O
by	O
the	O
project	O
team	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
some	O
point	O
it	O
became	O
necessary	O
to	O
communicate	O
with	O
other	O
LDAP	B-Protocol
servers	O
without	O
using	O
the	O
JNDI	B-Language
library	O
,	O
so	O
a	O
new	O
_LdapConnection_	O
class	O
was	O
developed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
step	O
toward	O
a	O
full	O
Java	B-Language
API	B-Application
specifically	O
designed	O
for	O
LDAP	B-Protocol
usage	O
on	O
the	O
Java	B-Language
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
starting	O
this	O
effort	O
(	O
back	O
in	O
2007	O
)	O
,	O
some	O
people	O
from	O
Sun	O
(	O
Microsystems	O
)	O
,	O
who	O
was	O
working	O
on	O
the	O
OpenDS	B-Language
project	O
,	O
contacted	O
the	O
Apache	B-Application
Directory	I-Application
project	O
team	O
to	O
gauge	O
interest	O
in	O
helping	O
create	O
a	O
new	O
version	O
of	O
JNDI	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
( [	O
Resurrecting	O
The	O
Java	B-Language
LDAP	B-Protocol
Centric	O
API]( 	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nevertheless	O
the	O
Apache	B-Application
Directory	I-Application
team	O
continued	O
with	O
the	O
work	O
but	O
the	O
pace	O
was	O
slow	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Collaboration	O
with	O
Sun	O
renewed	O
after	O
the	O
OpenDS	B-Language
project	O
team	O
's	O
presentation	O
at	O
LdapCon	O
in	O
2009	O
( [	O
Towards	O
a	O
common	O
LDAP	B-Protocol
API	B-Application
for	O
the	O
Java	B-Language
Platform]( 	O
)	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
these	O
fits	O
and	O
starts	O
,	O
a	O
consensus	O
was	O
reached	O
about	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
a	O
new	O
LDAP	B-Protocol
API	B-Application
and	O
what	O
it	O
should	O
be	O
capable	O
of	O
doing	O
.	O
</s>
