Long-Term or Short Term Connection

Question

I am reading the tutorial about database connection pool.(http://java.sun.com/j2ee/tutorial/1_3-fcs/doc/Resources3.html#65118) I just wonder when I should use Long-Term Connections and Short-Term Connections.
My understanding is:
1) Stateless Session Bean uses Short-Term Connection.
2) Stateful Session Bean and Bean-Managed Entity Bean uses Long-Term Connection. Is that right? Thanks.

Answer 1

If you mean a stateless bean will use a shorter connection than a session bean (stateless) ...then I see what you are driving at, but no ...I would disagree.
In the stateless bean you might get a connection from the pool, use it for those few methods, then release it. That is probably obvious given the nature of a stateless session bean.
However, in a statefull session bean ...even though you are letting the user hold onto the session bean for a long while ...you don't really want to assign them a permanent connection for that whole session. How many actual db queries will they make in an hour? One? Two? ...Ten? Even if that was fifty ...I think that would amount to less than a minute where the bean actually required the connection. Its an awful waste to hold it open and tied up for an hour isn't it?
Your connection management should be the same as the statless bean. When a method that interacts with the db is invoked by the client ...get a connection from the pool, use it ...and release it back to the pool when the method(s) end(s). Same with an entity bean too, I would say.
Your session bean is a business tier for business logic. Don't think it represents a solid connection to a database. It just connects when it needs to do some db stuff and then lets go of connections when its done ...immediately. The fact that it is a permanent object to the client in terms of EJB lifecycle is irrelevent to its connection to the database.
Any disputes?