JavaServer Pages [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Hans Bergsten (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
This comprehensive guide to JavaServer Pages (JSPs), a fast-growing technology for Web developers, teaches you how to embed server-side Java into Web pages, while also offering full access to other features such as JavaBeans, Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB), and JDBC database access. The reference JSP implementation is the freely available Apache Tomcat server, so it won't cost a thing to get started. All the example code in the book has been tested on Tomcat, in fact.

The first part of JavaServer Pages covers the essentials of HTTP and Java Servlets, on which JSPs are based. There is also a guide to installing Tomcat on your Windows or Unix system. The next part, aimed at Web page designers as well as programmers, covers JSP application development. There is material on scripting elements, error handling, managing user sessions, database access, security, and using XML and XSL with JSP. Part 3, for programmers, broadens the scope to include EJB and other Java components, developing custom tags, and achieving highly scalable applications using database connection pools. A comprehensive reference section finishes things off.

The author has been an active participant in the official servlet and JSP working groups, and this book is both well informed and well organized. It provides experts with invaluable tips and insights, while newcomers will find all they need to assess and implement their first JSP applications. --Tim Anderson, Amazon.co.uk

Product Description
JavaServer Pages (JSP) technology provides an easy way to create dynamic web pages. Its component-based approach allows web developers to easily combine static HTML for look-and-feel with Java components for dynamic features. The simplicity of this component-based model, combined with the cross-platform power of Java, allows a web development environment with enormous potential. JavaServer Pages shows how to develop Java-based web applications without having to be a hardcore programmer. The author provides an overview of JSP concepts and discusses how JSP fits into the larger picture of web applications. Web page authors will benefit from chapters on generating dynamic content, handling session information, accessing databases, authenticating users, and personalizing content. In the programming-oriented chapters, Java programmers learn how to create Java components and custom JSP tags for web authors to use in JSP pages.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 572 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly; 1 edition (December 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156592746X
• ISBN-13: 978-1565927469
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,404,323 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The JSP BIBLE has arrived, December 6, 2001

By	Mark Lowe (Huntington Beach, CA) - See all my reviews

This is hands down the best introduction to JSP coding. I've been through at least a dozen other publishers and no other book has been so clear and concise with all the relevant issues that plague serious JSP developers today. Usually a book will contain sections that aren't useful or don't deal with real life issues facing corporate programmers. This book handles everything from the most basic example to offering many perspectives of other programming theories. Having read the entire book, I'd have to say this book sets itself aside as THE best rendition of everything that makes for a great technical publication.

Many companies demand that you use best of breed coding methods before they will hire you on as a JSP developer. They want database connection pools, security considerations, localization of content, and they will typically force you to work with a number of different development environments and back-end servers. This book not only gives you the big picture, but it comes with WORKING EXAMPLES! I was able to use this book to learn how to install TOMCAT (the best JSP development environment) and watch the EXACT code in the book function flawlessly. I dare say having bought over 50 technical books in the last 10 years, this is an industry first. And the author examples every single line of code so you never get lost or confused about what is happening.

If you're asking yourself if you should buy this book, and you have a project requiring JSP knowledge and you've done either no or very little JSP coding, Hans will take you through a bottom up approach that will get you on the right path and make you look like an expert corporate programmer. It will be the first technical book in a long time that you've read cover to cover and wished there was more content to be had.

Anyone criticizing this book simply hasn't read it.

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A complete primer to JSP technology, January 11, 2001

By	Cees van Barneveldt (Grand Rapids, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This a primer that describes the background JSP and server side programming in Java, as well it is a rather good tutorial for developing JSP. The JSP technology is based on the servlet technology, so it is very useful (I would say a must) to read a book on servlets first. "Java Servlet Programming" from Hunter & Crawford makes a good reading companion. It is complete and generally well written, but I have some points of critique.

The book consists of 3 parts (excl. appendices): a) Part 1 "JSP Application Basics" gives a good theoretical overview of the JSP technology and environment. b) Part 2 "JSP Appication Development" gives a complete overview for the developer of the actual JSP pages. But it also has stuff that is only relevant for Java developers (such a Java primer) and lots of examples that can only be understood by reading the chapters in part 3 of the book, meant for Java developers. c) Part 3 "JSP and J2EE and JSP Component Development" is meant for the hardcore Java developer and describes the development of Java Beans and JSP custom actions. It has very strong chapters about how JSP fits in the J2EE architecture and how it combines with servlets. There is also a short chapter about Java Beans, the description is good but the example is incomplete. The last two chapters about JSP Custom Actions and Database Access Components are difficult and rather messy.

General points of critique: A) The JSP architecture has as weakness that it does not clearly separate development of HTML content and Java code. Basically this technology shifts the burden from the Java servlet developer to the HTML content developer, who is now very afraid to break Java code embedded in the HTML page. This book suffers from the same problem: the chapter about JSP application development is written too much from a Java development background with too less consideration for the needs of the HTML developer. B) Things are not always explained in the right order, which makes examples difficult to understand. Especially the relation between JSP custom actions and tag libraries became clear to me at the very last moment.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is too cheap !!!, March 17, 2001

By	Sergio Oliveira "saoj" (Rio de Janeiro - Brazil) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I cannot understand why some people did not like this book. It is definetly those kind of books that make O'Reilly one of the most respectful tech editors. I also have Core Servlets and JSP, which is awful compared to this one. The Core book just say 'do that to get that'. It does not say why, when, the advantages, drawbacks, alternatives, etc. It is just a reference book, it does not teach you anything useful, just the JSP syntax, so you may think that you know JSP, but you actually don't. I had this feeling because I first read the Core book. But then when I read the O'Reilly one I realized that I did not know anything about JSP. I was ashamed of thinking I once knew it. To conclude: If you want to be a JSP specialist buy the O'Reilly's book. If you want to know the syntax of JSP by the Core one.