The JavaServer Pages (JSP) and Java Servlet technologies provide a flexible and popular basis for developing dynamic web sites and applications, powered by the Java language. A wide variety of components, tag libraries, and application frameworks (such as Struts from the Apache Software Foundation) are becoming available, building on this basis and providing much needed functionality.

This book is designed to take you from a basic knowledge of the JSP and Servlet technologies to a deeper understanding of how best to implement core web site features such as dynamic navigation, page layout, and content management; potentially tricky subjects like managing frames are analyzed and the best approach discussed. The approach is pragmatic: where an open source component exists that provides the necessary functionality, we'll show you how best to integrate it into your own applications rather than inventing your own.

This book covers:

The Apache Struts Framework for Java-based web applications

HTTP and frame-management techniques

The JSP Standard Tag Library (JSPTL) Early Access release

Dynamic navigation and page layout

Error handling and logging for web sites

Strategies for integration with relational databases and J2EE

Security, user management, visitor tracking, and personalization

Content management, searching, and portal sites

A case study of an XML-based application framework