Professional JSP: Using JavaServer Pages, Servlets, EJB, JNDI, JDBC, XML, XSLT, and WML to Create Dynamic and Customizable Web Content (Programmer to Programmer)

For readers with some previous Java experience, Professional JSP is a comprehensive guide to today's JavaServer Pages (JSPs). Besides a solid tutorial on JSPs and servlets, this book gives you lots of useful examples of how JSPs can work with other Java APIs (like EJBs and XML) to deliver highly functional Web sites.

Professional JSP shows the underlying servlet code for many JSP samples. As explained by the authors, JSPs are a simpler way to write servlet code because Java statements are embedded within HTML. This fact makes the book especially useful to programmers who know about servlets and want to progress to JSP development. The introductory tutorial to JSP is as good as any you'll ever see. Short examples illustrate basic JSP features like directives, scripting elements, implicit objects, and JavaBeans. The book also reveals a variety of ways to track session information (including cookies), which is particularly helpful.

Several case studies show key concepts in action, including how to use custom tag libraries. Nicely functional samples include a Web site for an online investment company, a photography database, and a membership-based online grocery store. (This last example shows how to use LDAP and JNDI to store user information.) In addition to a thorough tutorial for learning JSPs, chapters in this text look at combining EJBs, XML, and other Java 2 Enterprise features that you'll need for successful real-world development. Handy appendices detail how to install and configure the free Apache Web Server and Tomcat JSP engine. There's also a reference to all JSP and servlet objects and APIs.

Overall, you'll mine plenty from Professional JSP, including several extremely useful coding examples that'll get you going on serious development for real-world e-commerce Web sites. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered:

1. Introduction to Java 2 Enterprise Edition and JavaServer Pages (JSP)
2. JSP, CGI, and ASP compared
3. The JSP life cycle
4. JSP directives, scripting elements, standard actions, and implicit objects
5. Servlet architecture and APIs
6. Using JavaBeans with JSPs
7. JDBC database programming basics
8. Using the PoolMan database connection pool manager
9. Storing session state with hidden fields, cookies, and URL rewriting
10. Error handling and debugging with JSPs
    
11. Tag extensions and tag libraries
12. Personalizing look-and-feel and content with JSPs
13. Global settings
14. JSP architecture
15. Security and personalization with JNDI and LDAP
16. Introduction to Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs)
17. HTTP streaming with JSPs
18. Basics of the Wireless Access Protocol (WAP)
19. Wireless Markup Language (WML)
20. XML and XSLT
21. Case studies on e-commerce and Web-site personalization