Pre-requisites

Attending students should be able to use the syntax of the Java language without difficulty. Familiarity with the behavior of accessing web content from the perspective of the end user is also helpful.

Building Web 2.0 Applications using Java Servlets, JSP and Ajax provides all the information required to build state-of-the-art Web 2.0 applications using Java EE technologies such as Servlets and JSP. Java Servlets allow flexible handling of user requests without the limitations of CGI-based applications or those created in a web server-specific manner. The JavaServer Pages technology allows one to create sophisticated dynamic web content while harnessing the power of Java and Java Servlets. Ajax will allow your web sites to be even more dynamic and responsive to user request.

Lesson objectives help students become comfortable with the course, and also provide a means to evaluate learning. Java Servlets and JavaServer Pages are essential server-side Java technologies for building web applications. Servlets are programs that run on a web server; they can respond to client requests. JavaServer Pages are useful for dividing work between Java developers and HTML designers. Ajax allows a web page to be very dynamic and responsive to the user's actions. This course is a comprehensive tutorial in the design and programming of servlets and JSPs. Students will learn about:

• Building scalable web applications
• Servlets and JSP technologies
• Custom tag development
• Web application design and architecture (using Model 2)
• Various Web Application techniques
• Web Security
• Ajax (from scratch)
• Introduction to Ajax toolkits and frameworks (e.g, Dojo)
• Explore DWR

A correct architecture and design is paramount. That's why we explain all technologies within the Model 2 architecture (de de-facto standard, which is also followed by frameworks like Struts, JSF and Spring MVC). So we will not explain Servlets and JSP as a list of technologies as they where specified chronically, but always within its architectural context. You will learn all technologies.

Course Content

Introduction to Java EE Web applications
Introduction | Understand the concept of dynamic web applications | List the Web technologies in Java EE 5 | Understand for each their purpose and architectural position | Get an overview of the deployable unit of a web application | Explain the principles of Servlet and JSP | Introduce JSF | Lesson: Introduction to Servlets and JSP | Introduce the Model 2 Architecture (MVC for the web) | Understand the architectural relation between Servlets and JSP | Understand the responsibilities and typical implementation technology of each element in Model 2 | Understand how to write a Servlet to process a form | Understand how to configure a Servlet in de web.xml deployment descriptor | Understand the basic Servlet API | Understand how to write a JSP | Understand the different techniques available in JSP | Introduce attributes, their scope and their role in the Model 2 architecture | Introduce the use and syntax of Unified Expression Language | Introduce JSP standard actions | Introduce JSTL | Discuss language based scripting

Java EE Web Applications
Configuration (Databases, EJBs and configuration data) | Adding ServletContext parameters | Data access in Web Applications | Accessing resources (e.g., Datasources) using Dependency injection (DI) | Discuss shortcomings of DI | Explain the process of a JNDI lookup | Use the DAO (Data Access Object) pattern | How to locate EJBs | Session Management | Client side session management using cookies | Understand HTTP cookies | Understand under which criteria cookies are accepted | Server side session management using HttpSession object | Understand the architectural impact when using server side state management (failt-over, server affinity, session replication etc) | Understand the two web-application life-cycle listeners | Understand the three session life-cycle listeners | Understand when to use an HttpSessionBindingListener | Security | Understand the security tasks and how they are addressed in Java EE | Understand how to establish proof of identity in web applications | Understand how to restrict access to parts of the web application | Understand how to establish data integrity and privacy | Explain the configuration of security and the power of indirection | Understand Users, Groups & Roles | Understand role based security | Understand principal mapping strategies | Programming Java EE Filters | Understand the concept of filtering and chaining of filters | List the three methods of the javax.servlet.Filter Interface and explain their purpose | Configuring a Filter in the deployment descriptor | Understand the rationale behind the interceptor pattern | Understand the use of the Wrapper pattern in Filters | Understand how to use the HttpServletRequestWrapper and theHttpServletResponseWrapper | Introduction to Custom Tags | Understand the proposed architectural role of Custom Tags | List the components that make up a Custom Tag | Understand the rationale behind the <file>TLD</file> file | Understand how to make a deployable unit of your Tag Library | Understand how to deploy a Tag Library in your web applications | Understand the possible need for further validation of tag usage using TEI and Validators | How to declare and enable attributes to your tag | How to declare scripting variables

Introduction to AJAX
Introduction to Ajax | Introduce Ajax and its principles | Understand the technologies involved | Understand the architecture of Ajax | Make a first Ajax enabled web page | Introduce the W3C XMLHttpRequest (XHR) | Understand the XHR API and lifecycle | Discuss security restrictions on Ajax | Using XML (Ajax) and JSON (Ajaj) | Use XML requests and response | Introduce W3C DOM | Understand the DOM | Levels and browser support | Use DOM to create and parse XML documents | Understand and address browser differences in using DOM | Understand how to use Web Services and REST in conjunction with Ajax | Introduce JSON | Ajaj: Receive and use JSON | Ajax Technologies and Frameworks | Ajax Toolkits (Dojo) | Direct Web Remoting (DWR) | Understand the DWR architecture | Understand the workings of DWR | Configure a Web Application and DWR | Understand how to use DWR | Use Java objects as argument and return types | Advanced DWR configuration