Java servlets

When looking to use Java to create dynamic Web content, the servlet can help by extending the applications hosted by Web servers. To do this, the servlet object dynamically receives a request and generates an object based on that request. Servlets are created using the API found in the javax.servlet package. In this section on the Java servlet get news, advice, and tutorials on using the Java servlet to extend Web servers and help you create dynamic Web content. Learn how Java servlets can be used with JavaServer Pages and JavaServer Faces to make dynamic Web content for your organization.

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Feature 06 Nov 2017
Owning the Java Platform is more of a burden or a blessing

Oracle became stewards of the Java platform as a by-product of their acquisition of Sun Microsystems. But looking back, it seems that the Java Platform has been more of a burden than a blessing. Continue Reading
Opinion 30 Mar 2017
Stop adding web UI frameworks like JSR-371 to the Java EE spec

Java EE's Servlet and JSP API provide a fine foundation for handling a web-based request-response cycle. Adding UI frameworks like JSR-371 to the spec only causes problems. Continue Reading

Blog Post 18 Dec 2019

How to deploy a WAR file to Tomcat 5 different ways

Tomcat WAR deployment example If you want to develop web applications and Apache Tomcat is your target web server, you need to know how to deploy WAR files to Tomcat so you can see if your ... Continue Reading
Feature 06 Nov 2017

Owning the Java Platform is more of a burden or a blessing

Oracle became stewards of the Java platform as a by-product of their acquisition of Sun Microsystems. But looking back, it seems that the Java Platform has been more of a burden than a blessing. Continue Reading
Opinion 30 Mar 2017

Stop adding web UI frameworks like JSR-371 to the Java EE spec

Java EE's Servlet and JSP API provide a fine foundation for handling a web-based request-response cycle. Adding UI frameworks like JSR-371 to the spec only causes problems. Continue Reading
Opinion 24 Mar 2017

Does reading XML while writing JSON make me a bad person?

I'm always writing JSON code, loving its flexibility and forgiveness. But when I call an external service, I want to be reading XML. Does that make me a bad person? Continue Reading
Tutorial 23 May 2016

Portlet filters and Spring tutorial

Working with a complex product like WebSphere, it helps to integrate a lightweight framework. This portal and Spring tutorial demonstrates how to use portal filters with Spring. Continue Reading
Tutorial 04 May 2015

How to invoke a JSF managed bean asynchronously through JavaScript

Sometimes great frameworks like JSF, Wicket or Spring MVC make simple tasks surprisingly difficult to do. With JavaServer Faces, the simple task of invoking a method on a managed bean is actually a bit of a chore. In this tutorial, we tackle that chore together. Continue Reading
Feature 30 Jan 2015

AngularJS: A JavaScript framework built with software testing in mind

Modern development methodologies rely heavily on testing and testing frameworks. Of course, testing frameworks are quite mature in the Java and .NET world, but they have been nascent in terms of JavaScript. Here's what's new in the world of JavaScript testing. Continue Reading
Tutorial 20 Jul 2014

Template based web design with JSF Facelets: ui:insert versus ui:include

When creating a web page template with JSF, a developer needs to know the difference between ui:insert and ui:include. They're actually quite different, but the similar sounding names can create confusion. Here's a great example of when to use ui:insert and how to properly use ui:include. Continue Reading
Tutorial 20 Jul 2014

Creating pages based on a JSF template: Using the Facelets ui:define tag

What do you do once you've set up a handsome page template using the Facelets functions that come with JSF 2.x? Well, you start creating new pages, meshing those ui:define tags in with ui:composition and ui:insert. It's easier than it sounds, trust me. Continue Reading
Tip 29 Apr 2014

How to define a portlet namespace and context paths using JSTL and JSP

Learn how to define portlet namespaces and context paths using JSTL and the JSP expression language. Continue Reading
Tutorial 18 Feb 2014

How to animate your web pages using JavaScript, HTML and CSS: A tutorial

One of the great benefits to using JavaScript is the fact that it allows you to animate your web pages in simple yet creative ways. Here we look at a simple example that animates the result of a game or rock-paper-scissors. Continue Reading
Tutorial 17 Feb 2014

Tutorial: Coding a simple Rock Paper Scissors application in JavaScript

Rock, paper scissors, or Rashambo as it is called in some circles, is a simple game that most people understand, which makes it a great scenario for learning how to program in JavaScript. Continue Reading
Tutorial 17 Feb 2014

A simple tutorial on using the JavaScript event model

To be great at JavaScript languages like JQuery, Dojo and YUI, you must master the basics of JavaScript. Here we look at implementing a simple Roshambo application using the JavaScript event model. Continue Reading
Tip 04 Oct 2013

Annotation versus XML configuration: Which JPA option to choose?

A common debate in the JPA community is whether to configure applications using an XML or annotations based approach. Here are some reasons why you might want to choose XML instead. Continue Reading
Tip 04 Oct 2013

Simplified ORM configuration with Spring, JPA and Hibernate path scanning

Configuring Spring, JPA, Hibernate or other ORM technologies can be a challenge. One way to simplify ORM configuration is to configure package scanning for entity classes. Continue Reading
Tutorial 11 Aug 2013

Application_Scope versus Portlet_Scope: Understanding the JSR 286 PortletSession

Managing state through the PortletSession is a supremely important job for the portal developer, and knowing how to manage the session means understanding the difference between the PortletSession scopes: APPLICATION_SCOPE and PORTLET_SCOPE. Continue Reading
Feature 21 Jul 2013

JSR-286 portlet development tutorial and technology guide

This JSR-286 Portlet Development Tutorial and Technology Guide is designed to help enterprise Java professionals gain the knowledge they need to excel in the emerging portal and portlet development space. Continue Reading
Tutorial 30 May 2013

JSR-286 Development Tutorial: JSPs, MVC and the portlet tag library

This JSR-286 tutorial demonstrates how to develop JSPs, using the portlet tag library, that comply to the MVC design pattern. Continue Reading
Tutorial 17 May 2013

JSR-286 development tutorial: Mastering request-response programming

This portlet programming tutorial shows how the PortletRequest and Portlet Response are used when developing JSR-286, request-response based apps. Continue Reading
Tutorial 16 May 2013

JSR-286 development tutorial: An introduction to portlet programming

This portlet programming tutorial is an introduction to developing JSR-286 applications that can be deployed to any standards-based portal server. Continue Reading
Tip 05 May 2013

Two most commonly misconfigured Tomcat performance settings

Tomcat on the server is different from Tomcat on the desktop, but too many system admins fail to optimize their production servers for performance. Continue Reading
Tip 05 May 2013

Tomcat performance optimization through consolidated log file handlers

By default Tomcat uses several log file handlers, but performance can easily be optimized by configuring the server to use only one. Continue Reading
Feature 10 Jan 2013

How NoSQL, MySQL and MongoDB worked together to solve a big-data problem

Choosing between schemaless NoSQL databases and strong-schema relational designs isn't an either-or decision, as this case study points out. When dealing with their big data problem, Craigslist decided that their MySQL servers could use a little help from MongoDB, and putting the two technologies together created a better system with greater availability, scalability and performance. Continue Reading
Feature 30 May 2012

Java EE 7 migration: Risk mitigation strategies

Some enterprise Java shops are weighing the risks of a migration to Java EE 7 against the potential benefits, which are incremental and cloud focused. Continue Reading
Tutorial 24 Feb 2012

Convert server-side Java to client-side HTML

This brief video tutorial uses Java code on the server side to push an HTML link to the client in simple html. Continue Reading
Tip 23 Feb 2012

Five Neat Things You Can Do Out of the Box with Liferay Portal

If you've ever run a competitive portal, you know that so many of them have little more than the "weather portlet" or "bookmarks" portlet after installation. Liferay is amazing because it has such full featured functionality 'out of the box.' Here's just five featuers I love about Liferay Portal 6.1. Continue Reading
Tutorial 12 Jan 2012

New Java 7 Features: How to Use a More Precise Rethrow in Exceptions from Project Coin

Afficionados of other languages such as Scala or Clojure are always slagging the fact that Java is too verbose and cumbersome. So, it's not too surprising to find out that Java 7 introduced a number of new facilities that can help to trim down the code an application developer is required to write. Continue Reading
Tip 02 Oct 2011

Include vs. Forward of the Servlet RequestDispatcher

The key difference between the two is the fact that the forward method will close the output stream after it has been invoked, whereas the include method leaves the output stream open. Continue Reading
Tip 02 Jun 2011

HTML5, Java and the future of Web development

The new mobile Web may feature a clear separation between the front-end HTML5 UI and the back-end Java applications. Continue Reading
Tutorial 02 Mar 2011

Working with CDI and JSF 2.0 on Tomcat 7: Configuring Weld

By default, you can't use CDI in your JSF 2.0 applications when they are simply deployed to a standard servlet engine such as Tomcat 7. But, with Weld, you can make it work. Continue Reading
Feature 08 Feb 2011

Top 5 reasons that JSP scriptlets suck

Learn the top 5 reasons why scriplets and Java code aren't optimal in JSP pages. Continue Reading
News 11 May 2006

Free Book: Servlets and JavaServer Pages: The J2EE Technology Web Tier

Addison-Wesley and Developmentor have provided TheServerSide.com with the entire book of Servlets and JSP the J2EE Web Tier for free download. Servlets and JSP the J2EE Web Tier is a book authored by Jayson Falkner and Kevin Jones about the latest in Servlets and JSP. The current version of the book covers Servlets 2.4, JSP 2.0, and the JSTL 1.0. Both Kevin and Jayson helped directly make the specifications and are proud to publish one of the first books covering the technologies. Continue Reading