# Via annotation package org.superbiz.refs; import javax.annotation.Resource; import javax.ejb.Stateless; import javax.naming.InitialContext; import javax.sql.DataSource; @Stateless @Resource(name = "myFooDataSource", type = DataSource.class) public class MyDataSourceRefBean implements MyBeanInterface { @Resource private DataSource myBarDataSource; public void someBusinessMethod() throws Exception { if (myBarDataSource == null) throw new NullPointerException("myBarDataSource not injected"); // Both can be looked up from JNDI as well InitialContext context = new InitialContext(); DataSource fooDataSource = (DataSource) context.lookup("java:comp/env/myFooDataSource"); DataSource barDataSource = (DataSource) context.lookup("java:comp/env/org.superbiz.refs.MyDataSourceRefBean/myBarDataSource"); } } # Via xml The above @Resource annotation usage is 100% equivalent to the following xml. myFooDataSource javax.sql.DataSource org.superbiz.refs.MyDataSourceRefBean/myBarDataSource javax.sql.DataSource org.superbiz.refs.MyDataSourceRefBean myBarDataSource