Relationship between JCA, it's providers and JCE?
cryptography, java, jca, jce
Solution
The basic difference between JCA and JCE is that JCE is an extension of JCA, not a replacement. The JCA includes classes like `MessageDigest`, `SecureRandom`, `KeyFactory`, `Signature` and `KeyStore`. `JCE` add some more classes of cryptography like `Cipher`, `KeyGeneration`, `Mac` and `KeyGeneration`. The distinction between JCA and JCE has largely faded as the JCE has been provided with the standard runtime for some time now.
`JCA/JCE` is designed to separate cryptographic implementation from abstraction. It is a provider based architecture where you can plug in a provider of your choice, for instance `BouncyCastle`, that has more cryptographic algorithm support than what is provided by the providers contained within the standard Java runtime.
Problem
I thought it was simple where JCA was a replacement for JCE. However writing some test code to get all the providers on my system showed this isn't the case. I noticed the following: - Some algorithms have multiple providers (eg: `MD5withRSA` is in `SunRsaSign` as well as `SunJSSE`) - JCA seems to have `type` of algorithms that go beyond what's in JCE Item 1 makes sense as JCA appears (to me) as a library/array of JCE providers to pick from. Item 2 is a a bit confusing because it suggests that JCA isn't exact an array of "identical" JCE providers; it's some sort of watering hole for any and every "kind" of provider, JCE interfaced or not. So, whats the working relationship between JCA, it's providers and JCE? Do the providers also exist in independent silos or do they "build" off each other / have dependencies between them? For the folks interested in the code and the results that prompted this question, its listed below ``` import java.security.Provider; import java.security.Security; import java.util.ArrayList; public class ConsoleListJca { public static void main(String[] args) { for (Provider provider : Security.getProviders()) { System.out.println("Provider: " + provider.getName() + " (ver " + provider.getVersion() + ")"); System.out.print(" Algorithms: "); ArrayList<String> algos = new ArrayList<String>(); for (Provider.Service service : provider.getServices()) { algos.add(String.format( "%s (%s)", service.getAlgorithm(), service.getType())); } java.util.Collections.sort(algos); String algorsStr = algos.toString(); // remove [ and ] from ArrayList's toString() algorsStr = algorsStr.substring(1, algorsStr.length()-1); System.out.println(algorsStr); System.out.println(); } } } ``` and the results (formatted for SO) are ``` Provider: SUN (ver 1.7) Algorithms: CaseExactJKS (KeyStore), Collection (CertStore), DSA (AlgorithmParameterGenerator), DSA (AlgorithmParameters), DSA (KeyFactory), DSA (KeyPairGenerator), JKS (KeyStore), JavaLoginConfig (Configuration), JavaPolicy (Policy), LDAP (CertStore), MD2 (MessageDigest), MD5 (MessageDigest), NONEwithDSA (Signature), NativePRNG (SecureRandom), PKIX (CertPathBuilder), PKIX (CertPathValidator), SHA (MessageDigest), SHA-256 (MessageDigest), SHA-384 (MessageDigest), SHA-512 (MessageDigest), SHA1PRNG (SecureRandom), SHA1withDSA (Signature), X.509 (CertificateFactory), com.sun.security.IndexedCollection (CertStore) Provider: SunRsaSign (ver 1.7) Algorithms: MD2withRSA (Signature), MD5withRSA (Signature), RSA (KeyFactory), RSA (KeyPairGenerator), SHA1withRSA (Signature), SHA256withRSA (Signature), SHA384withRSA (Signature), SHA512withRSA (Signature) Provider: SunEC (ver 1.7) Algorithms: EC (AlgorithmParameters), EC (KeyFactory), EC (KeyPairGenerator), ECDH (KeyAgreement), NONEwithECDSA (Signature), SHA1withECDSA (Signature), SHA256withECDSA (Signature), SHA384withECDSA (Signature), SHA512withECDSA (Signature) Provider: SunJSSE (ver 1.7) Algorithms: Default (SSLContext), MD2withRSA (Signature), MD5andSHA1withRSA (Signature), MD5withRSA (Signature), NewSunX509 (KeyManagerFactory), PKCS12 (KeyStore), PKIX (TrustManagerFactory), RSA (KeyFactory), RSA (KeyPairGenerator), SHA1withRSA (Signature), SunX509 (KeyManagerFactory), SunX509 (TrustManagerFactory), TLSv1 (SSLContext), TLSv1.1 (SSLContext), TLSv1.2 (SSLContext) Provider: SunJCE (ver 1.7) Algorithms: AES (AlgorithmParameters), AES (Cipher), AES (KeyGenerator), AESWrap (Cipher), ARCFOUR (Cipher), ARCFOUR (KeyGenerator), Blowfish (AlgorithmParameters), Blowfish (Cipher), Blowfish (KeyGenerator), DES (AlgorithmParameters), DES (Cipher), DES (KeyGenerator), DES (SecretKeyFactory), DESede (AlgorithmParameters), DESede (Cipher), DESede (KeyGenerator), DESede (SecretKeyFactory), DESedeWrap (Cipher), DiffieHellman (AlgorithmParameterGenerator), DiffieHellman (AlgorithmParameters), DiffieHellman (KeyAgreement), DiffieHellman (KeyFactory), DiffieHellman (KeyPairGenerator), HmacMD5 (KeyGenerator), HmacMD5 (Mac), HmacPBESHA1 (Mac), HmacSHA1 (KeyGenerator), HmacSHA1 (Mac), HmacSHA256 (KeyGenerator), HmacSHA256 (Mac), HmacSHA384 (KeyGenerator), HmacSHA384 (Mac), HmacSHA512 (KeyGenerator), HmacSHA512 (Mac), JCEKS (KeyStore), OAEP (AlgorithmParameters), PBE (AlgorithmParameters), PBEWithMD5AndDES (AlgorithmParameters), PBEWithMD5AndDES (Cipher), PBEWithMD5AndDES (SecretKeyFactory), PBEWithMD5AndTripleDES (AlgorithmParameters), PBEWithMD5AndTripleDES (Cipher), PBEWithMD5AndTripleDES (SecretKeyFactory), PBEWithSHA1AndDESede (AlgorithmParameters), PBEWithSHA1AndDESede (Cipher), PBEWithSHA1AndDESede (SecretKeyFactory), PBEWithSHA1AndRC2_40 (AlgorithmParameters), PBEWithSHA1AndRC2_40 (Cipher), PBEWithSHA1AndRC2_40 (SecretKeyFactory), PBKDF2WithHmacSHA1 (SecretKeyFactory), RC2 (AlgorithmParameters), RC2 (Cipher), RC2 (KeyGenerator), RSA (Cipher), SslMacMD5 (Mac), SslMacSHA1 (Mac), SunTls12Prf (KeyGenerator), SunTlsKeyMaterial (KeyGenerator), SunTlsMasterSecret (KeyGenerator), SunTlsPrf (KeyGenerator), SunTlsRsaPremasterSecret (KeyGenerator) Provider: SunJGSS (ver 1.7) Algorithms: 1.2.840.113554.1.2.2 (GssApiMechanism), 1.3.6.1.5.5.2 (GssApiMechanism) Provider: SunSASL (ver 1.7) Algorithms: CRAM-MD5 (SaslClientFactory), CRAM-MD5 (SaslServerFactory), DIGEST-MD5 (SaslClientFactory), DIGEST-MD5 (SaslServerFactory), EXTERNAL (SaslClientFactory), GSSAPI (SaslClientFactory), GSSAPI (SaslServerFactory), NTLM (SaslClientFactory), NTLM (SaslServerFactory), PLAIN (SaslClientFactory) Provider: XMLDSig (ver 1.0) Algorithms: DOM (KeyInfoFactory), DOM (XMLSignatureFactory), http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#base64 (TransformService), http://www.w3.org/2000/09/xmldsig#enveloped-signature (TransformService), http://www.w3.org/2001/10/xml-exc-c14n# (TransformService), http://www.w3.org/2001/10/xml-exc-c14n#WithComments (TransformService), http://www.w3.org/2002/06/xmldsig-filter2 (TransformService), http://www.w3.org/2006/12/xml-c14n11 (TransformService), http://www.w3.org/2006/12/xml-c14n11#WithComments (TransformService), http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-xpath-19991116 (TransformService), http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-xslt-19991116 (TransformService), http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/REC-xml-c14n-20010315 (TransformService), http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/REC-xml-c14n-20010315#WithComments (TransformService) Provider: SunPCSC (ver 1.7) Algorithms: PC/SC (TerminalFactory) Provider: Apple (ver 1.1) Algorithms: KeychainStore (KeyStore) ```