Mastering J2EE can be daunting, with an ever-growing list of technologies and acronyms. The Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI) has been at the core of the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) from its inception, but it is often underutilized by novice J2EE developers. This article will help demystify the role of JNDI in J2EE applications and show how it can help decouple your application from the details of deployment.