Frequently Asked Questions

What is this course about? This course is about building enterprise Web applications using server-side Java. Java servlets and JavaServer Pages (JSP) allow developers to leverage the power of the Java 2 platform and create object-oriented, scalable, n-tier applications. Using Java servlets and JSP, developers can implement server-side logic for their Web-based applications, including creating a Web interface to a database. In the course, the participants integrate servlets and JSP for a complete Web solution. Who will benefit from this course? This course is useful for programmers, software engineers, analysts and managers involved in developing Web applications with server-side Java. Those who want to use Java applets in their Web pages should instead take Course 487, Designing and Building Great Web Pages: Hands-On, or Course 470, Developing a Web Site: Hands-On. What background do I need? You must have 3-6 months' Java experience and should: Understand Java classes and the inheritance model Be able to use the standard Java APIs In addition, familiarity with intranet/Internet development technologies such as HTML, HTTP and TCP/IP is helpful. If you don't have Java experience, you can take Course 471, Java Programming: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction. For an introduction to intranet/Internet development, you can take Course 470, Developing a Web Site: Hands-On. What version of Java does this course cover? This course has been fully updated to reflect Sun's Java 2 Enterprise Edition. What are Java servlets? Java servlets are a powerful way of extending functionality of Java-enabled Web servers. They are commonly used to generate HTML documents on the fly. What are JavaServer Pages (JSP)? JavaServer Pages allows developers to easily create dynamic, interactive Web pages by embedding scripts directly into HTML. Using JSP, you can quickly create powerful intranet and Web applications that incorporate enterprise resources such as databases, networked servers and distributed objects. What is Struts 1 and how is it used in this course? Struts 1 is a Web application framework developed by the Apache Jakarta group. The Struts framework is based on the model-view-controller framework. By leveraging the Struts framework, the developer can quickly build a Web application by simply focusing on the business logic. The Struts framework provides the low-level services normally required by Web applications. The services include connection pooling, action handling, form processing and JSP custom tags. How much time is devoted to each topic? Content Hours Introduction and overview 1.5 Generating content with servlets 2.5 Accessing databases with servlets 3.5 Maintaining state in Web applications 3.5 JavaServer Pages (JSP) fundamentals 1.5 Servlets, JSP and JavaBeans integration 3.5 Creating JSP custom tags 3.0 Building Struts-based applications 3.5 Securing a Java Web application 1.0 Times, including the workshops, are estimates; exact times may vary according to the needs of each class. What is covered during the hands-on exercises? During the exercises, you learn how to integrate servlets, and JSP technologies for a complete Web solution. You learn how to publish the contents of your database on the Web. The course also covers the techniques for keeping track of users by utilising cookies and sessions. You learn how to build Web applications based on the Struts framework. A final exercise guides you through the steps for adding security to your Web site with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). What systems and software are used? The normal classroom setup uses PCs running a Web browser, and a Web server hosting servlets and JSP. The course also uses a Windows platform running Oracle as a database server. However, everything you learn during this course applies to UNIX, Macintosh and other systems. Which application server is used in this course? You use the Apache Tomcat application server for the classroom exercises. However, the course notes and exercises adhere to Sun's servlet and JSP standards. The applications developed in the course are portable to all J2EE application servers including WebLogic, WebSphere, iPlanet, Oracle JServer, JRun, JBoss, etc. Does the course use Sun's development tools, the JDK or any IDEs? This programming course uses Sun's Java 2 SDK, Standard Edition (J2SE). The course also uses the Eclipse Java IDE. The concepts you learn in the course will also work in Borland JBuilder, IBM WebSphere Studio and other Java IDE tools. Why should I take this course instead of one offered by Sun Microsystems? Learning Tree is dedicated to helping accelerate the careers of our clients by providing them with world-class technology and management training. Our independence from Sun Microsystems (and any other vendor) allows us to give an unbiased view of what works and what does not. This course is objective in its approach, having been developed independently from Sun Microsystems by industry experts who bring their real-world experience to the classroom. How does this course relate to other Learning Tree courses? This course assumes knowledge of Java programming at the level of Course 471, Java Programming: A Comprehensive Hands-On Introduction. Other hands-on related courses include: 470, Developing a Web Site: Hands-On introduces HTML and Web server technologies 517, Developing Enterprise Java Applications with Spring and Hibernate®: Hands-On offers the skills to develop scalable enterprise Java applications using the industry-standard Spring and Hibernate frameworks 516, Best Practices in Java Programming: Hands-On provides the skills to solve real-world software development problems and deliver fast, reliable applications 577, Building XML Web Services with Java: Hands-On offers experience in developing web services with Java 318, Building Java Enterprise Applications with Design Patterns: Hands-On provides experience building scalable and maintainable Java EE applications

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