I've recently published some proposals to make JMS MDBs simpler and easier to use.
https://java.net/projects/jms-spec/pages/JMSListener2
Since these proposals are specific to JMS they're being discussed as part of JMS 2.1 (part of Java EE 8). However I
think they will be of interest to the wider EJB community.
If you're interested in improving MDBs for JMS (which is its most common use case) then please take a look and let me
know what you think. Please send comments to JMS equivalent of this forum, which is users_at_jms-spec.java.net
Other proposals to improve MDBs for JMS will follow. Ideas include allowing finer control over the lifetime of a MDB.
For more about how to get involved in JMS 2.1, please see
https://java.net/projects/jms-spec/pages/Home#Getting_involved
Thanks,
Nigel Deakin
JMS 2.1 specification lead
http://jms-spec.java.net/
@jms_spec