Struts: The Complete Reference (Osborne Complete Reference Series) [Paperback]

James Holmes (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0072231319 | ISBN-13: 978-0072231311 | Publication Date: April 30, 2004 | Edition: 1

In his new book, James Holmes, a “Committer” on the Struts development team, provides you with the first comprehensive treatment of Struts 1.1. His coverage begins with a comprehensive tutorial, followed by in-depth coverage of API, config files, Struts’ tag library, and an entire section on end-to-end application development. He also emphasizes ways to handle Struts’ most complex concepts including tiles, validators, security, and internationalization. Insider tips and techniques for making an amazing Struts application take you to that next level of manipulating this cutting-edge framework. Source code is available online.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The Ultimate Struts Resource! Covers Struts 1.2

Use the Struts framework to create flexible, high-performance, business-oriented Web applications that use Java servlets and JavaServer Pages. James Holmes, a committer on the Struts project, provides a comprehensive Struts tutorial that gets you started building real-world applications as quickly as possible. He offers in-depth coverage of the MVC architecture, Validators, Tiles, modules, the Struts Tag Libraries, and JSTL. You’ll also get details on securing and testing your applications as well as expert tips and techniques on how to make a Struts application sizzle.

• Understand the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture
• Take advantage of the built-in validation interface
• Create and reuse a Tiles JSP layout
• Configure and use Struts’ declarative exception handler
• Set up and use modules in your applications
• Use the HTML, Bean, Logic, and Nested Tag Libraries
• Use the JSP Standard Tag Library (JSTL)
• Work with the Struts, Tiles, and Validator configuration files
• Secure your Struts applications
• Perform a variety of unit tests on Struts applications

Author: James Holmes, a committer on the Struts project, is the creator of the most popular Struts tool, the Struts Console. In 2002, Oracle Magazine gave him the prestigious Java Developer of the Year award for his work with the Struts framework and JDeveloper. Editor: Herb Schildt is the world’s number-one programming author. He is an authority on the C, C++, Java, and C# programming languages, and a master Windows programmer. His books have sold more than three million copies worldwide and have been translated into all major foreign languages.

About the Author

JAMES HOLMES (Atlanta, GA) is a leading Struts authority. He is a committer on the Struts project and creator of the most popular Struts development tool, Struts Console. Additionally, Oracle Magazine named him "2002 Java Developer of the Year" for his work with the Struts framework and JDeveloper. James is an independent consultant who develops server-side applications for complex transactional environments, including work for ADP, Bank of America, IBM, and UPS. You can contact James at [e-mail] or visit his Web site at http://www.JamesHolmes.com/.

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media; 1 edition (April 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072231319
• ISBN-13: 978-0072231311
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (52 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,565,459 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, light on db access methods, May 24, 2004

By 

P. Woods (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Struts: The Complete Reference (Osborne Complete Reference Series) (Paperback)

From the perspective of someone who already has a few books on Struts, this book has proved useful. It has a chapter on using modules, with Tiles and the Struts Validator - the first book I've seen that does so. It also talks about the JSTL and its comparison to the standard Struts tag library, which it also has a good reference on. As this book probably went to press before JSP 2.0 was finalized, it wasn't noted - the Struts EL tag library is not required with Tomcat 5.

I have only one real con, and one niggle. There is no mention of database access, not even a coment on best practices. The tutorial/sample app uses hard coded values, with a comment that a real app would use a database. The niggle is that it notes 'Covers Struts 1.2' on the cover, but I couldn't find anything inside the book that suggested what 1.2 has over 1.1.

If you have some older books on Struts, or already use Struts but want to see what the hype is about with Modules and the JSTL, then this is a great book. I'd prefer to give it 4.5 stars, as the lack of data access notes bothers me a bit. Other than that, it's a great book.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Justifies the name "Complete Reference"..nothing more!, March 12, 2006

By 

Andy Menon "Andy Menon" (Westborough, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Struts: The Complete Reference (Osborne Complete Reference Series) (Paperback)

I primarily bought this book for 2 reasons. One, after having seen other good reviews on this site about this book and two, to get to know more about the tag libraries used in Struts applications. Unfortunately, what i find is that this book has succeeded in putting the long "not so user-friendly" tag library documentation available elsewhere, and that run endless down browser windows into a book form. In my opinion, Struts as a technology centered around MVC is not so very difficult for a seasoned Software Developer to understand. What this book fails to explain is the usefulness of tag libraries in building the " CODE-FREE VIEW" component of a Struts-based application using tag libraries. Once i got into the chapters about tag-libraries, the pulse with which the book takes off with, begins to die twice as fast. The author(s) make(s) (a) very feeble effort in linking "variable scopes in JSP" and their connection to tag libraries. Now, i 've kept this book aside just to serve as a reference to a tag and/or its properties. In a nutshell, it's back to building traditional JSP views for me.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Introduction, September 22, 2004

By 

John A. Justin (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Struts: The Complete Reference (Osborne Complete Reference Series) (Paperback)

The book is a good beginners intro to the subject. After reading the first few chapters, you will be equipped and itching to move on to one of the more detailed text that aren't as friendly - like Struts in Action - that will give you the skills to actually build something useful.

You should also spend a little time getting a grounding in custom tags before you get involved with trying to learn Struts -you will get much better insight into what is going on behind the scenes - because that's essentially what the Struts framework is really all about.