Instant JavaServer Pages (Book/CD-ROM Package)

Featuring plenty of short, practical examples, Instant JavaServer Pages is a worthwhile tutorial to getting started with today's JSP programming. This no-frills text is filled with useful tips and sample solutions for using JSPs effectively in real Web sites.

While the book starts from the very beginning with JSPs, its focus on practical programming problems is what sets it apart. For instance, early sections on managing session information look at ways to authenticate users and prevent them from bypassing a login page. Other useful short examples include a simple employee database, a telephone directory, and a Web application for a help desk.

The heart of this title is its online computer hardware store, built with JavaBeans that manage an underlying database through JDBC (and PostgreSQL on the back end). The sample store is enhanced in stages; subsequent versions get a shopping cart, online surveys, and even a frequent shopper program. Needless to say, the code is worth a perusal from anyone who wants to do e-commerce effectively by using JSPs. Later sections contain more specialized examples, including a nifty electronic postcard site, and how to implement a simple chat room.

The text closes with reference sections listing JSP and servlet APIs, as well as how to install and configure Apache Web Server, the JServ JSP engine, and the PostgreSQL database. Of course, you can use the sample code with any JSP-enabled Web server, but you get what you need to know in order to begin with these freely downloadable software packages.

If you need to learn JSPs quickly for real-world projects, Instant JavaServer Pages delivers a concise tutorial and plenty of useful sample code to get you started. It does a good job of pointing you toward what's important by using easy-to-understand sample code that can jump-start your JSP programming know-how in a hurry. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered:

• Introduction to JavaServer Pages (JSP)
• JSP vs. Active Server Pages (ASP)
• JSP basics: directives, actions, declarations, scriptlets, and built-in objects
• Sample JSPs for login and session management
• JavaBeans
• JDBC and databases
• Sample employee database
• Telephone directory and help desk
• E-commerce with JSP (building a product catalog, a shopping cart, adding user surveys, and implementing a frequent-shopper program)
• Sample JSPs for electronic postcards and a chat room
• XML basics
• Retrieving a postscript file
• Installing and configuring Apache Web Server
• The JServ JSP engine and PostgreSQL
• JSP and servlet API reference