Type dependency: A bundle may depend on a type exported by another bundle thus creating a type dependency. Type dependencies are managed through Import-Package and Export-Package directives in the OSGi manifest. This kind of dependency is similar to a JAR file using types in other JAR files from the classpath. However, as we’ve seen earlier, there are significant differences.

Service dependency: A bundle may also publish services (preferably using Spring-DM), and other bundles may consume those services. If two bundles depend on the same service, both will be communicating effectively to the same object. More specifically, any state for that service will be shared between all the clients of that service. This kind of arrangement is similar to the commonly seen client-server interaction through mechanisms such as RMI or Web Services.