SCWCD Exam Study Kit: Java Web Component Developer Certification [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

Part 1 (28 pages) covers HTTP, JSPs, Servlets and the Servlet container from the 10,000 foot view in a scant 26 pages. You learn the basic architecture/patterns of web applications, the role of the web container according to servlets/JSPs and the lifecycle of a request. This the most concise, on-target explanation of Java web application development I've seen. You should tear out these pages (after having read them yourself) and give them to your manager to read. When authors don't have a strong grasp of what they're writing about, it gets very wordy. The fact that the authors can succintly capture the full picture of Java Web Applications in less than 30 pages is proof of their deep understanding of not just the APIs, but the underlying technologies and methodologies -- not just the how, but the why.

Part 2 (143 pages) covers the fundamental Java web applcation technology; the servlet. Since JSPs get translated and compiled into Java Servlets when they are exectued, a solid understanding of Servlet development and deployment issues are crucial. This section leads off with an examination of the request/response lifecycle, the servlet lifecycle (creation and destruction), and configuration. An entire chapter is spent on packaging and deploying servlets, focusing on the directory structure that must be present in the archive, and the accompanying deployment descriptor. From here, the book moves on to cover development activities including exception handling patterns, session management, application security and threading issues. The security chapters covers all of the built in HTTP authentication methods (Basic, Digest, HTTPS, and Form-based) and will save you from rolling your own authentication mechanism in your applications. The session management and threading chapters are required reading before moving on to JSPs. JSPs expose this functionality with a simplified interface, but it's very important to understand how your tools work to wield them properly.

Part 3 (170 pages) starts off with a chapter covering JSP syntax, lifecycle and features. Subsequent chapters move on to using/building web components. Java Beans are used heavily in JSP to allow the JSP to access member variables through reflection, so a crash course (3 pages) is offered to get you up to speed. Using Java Beans in all layers of the architecture, from servlets out to JSPs is discussed. In the latter chapters in this section, implmenting your own tag libraries is discussed and the major interfaces and classes are discussed. In the code samples in this chapter you start to make the connection between JSPs and servlets, and the problem that each technology is geared to solve.

Part 4 (53 pages) covers the one remaining topic on the certification exam, application patterns, and a new feature with the Servlet 2.3 API, filters. Filters aren't currently included in the exam objectives (the book notes this), but they are given the same treatment as the material that the exam covers. The patterns that are included in the exam, Value Object, Model View Controller, Data Access Object, Busienss Delegate and Front Controller.

To sum up, this book and it's CDROM are indispensable if you are studying to earn this certification or just getting your feet wet in the web tier of Java technology. This book is the perfect reference for the experienced developer that needs to learn the salient features of JSP/servlet technology quickly and without a lot of introductory "this is web programming" fluff.