<s>
The	O
Java	B-Language
Naming	I-Language
and	I-Language
Directory	I-Language
Interface	I-Language
(	O
JNDI	B-Language
)	O
is	O
a	O
Java	B-Language
API	B-Application
for	O
a	O
directory	O
service	O
that	O
allows	O
Java	B-Language
software	O
clients	O
to	O
discover	O
and	O
look	O
up	O
data	O
and	O
resources	O
(	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
Java	B-Language
objects	O
)	O
via	O
a	O
name	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
all	O
Java	B-Language
APIs	B-Application
that	O
interface	O
with	O
host	O
systems	O
,	O
JNDI	B-Language
is	O
independent	O
of	O
the	O
underlying	O
implementation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Additionally	O
,	O
it	O
specifies	O
a	O
service	B-Application
provider	I-Application
interface	I-Application
(	O
SPI	B-Application
)	O
that	O
allows	O
directory	O
service	O
implementations	O
to	O
be	O
plugged	O
into	O
the	O
framework	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
information	O
looked	O
up	O
via	O
JNDI	B-Language
may	O
be	O
supplied	O
by	O
a	O
server	O
,	O
a	O
flat	O
file	O
,	O
or	O
a	O
database	O
;	O
the	O
choice	O
is	O
up	O
to	O
the	O
implementation	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Typical	O
uses	O
of	O
JNDI	B-Language
include	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Java	B-Language
RMI	I-Language
and	O
Java	B-Language
EE	I-Language
APIs	B-Application
use	O
the	O
JNDI	B-Language
API	B-Application
to	O
look	O
up	O
objects	O
in	O
a	O
network	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
API	B-Application
provides	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SPI	B-Application
portion	O
allows	O
support	O
for	O
practically	O
any	O
kind	O
of	O
naming	O
or	O
directory	O
service	O
,	O
including	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Sun	O
Microsystems	O
first	O
released	O
the	O
JNDI	B-Language
specification	O
on	O
March	O
10	O
,	O
1997	O
.	O
,	O
the	O
current	O
version	O
is	O
JNDI	B-Language
1.2	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
JNDI	B-Language
(	O
Java	B-Language
Naming	I-Language
and	I-Language
Directory	I-Language
Interface	I-Language
)	O
organizes	O
its	O
names	O
into	O
a	O
hierarchy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
JNDI	B-Language
API	B-Application
defines	O
a	O
context	O
that	O
specifies	O
where	O
to	O
look	O
for	O
an	O
object	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
initial	O
context	O
is	O
analogous	O
to	O
the	O
root	O
or	O
top	O
of	O
a	O
directory	O
tree	O
for	O
a	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Context	O
object	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
configured	O
by	O
adding	O
jndi.properties	O
file	O
in	O
classpath	O
containing	O
initial	O
context	O
factory	O
class	O
name	O
and	O
provider	O
URL	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Directories	O
are	O
a	O
type	O
of	O
context	O
;	O
they	O
restrict	O
the	O
name	O
space	O
much	O
like	O
a	O
directory	O
structure	O
on	O
a	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
does	O
.	O
</s>
