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Chapter 35. JavaServer Pages

Mayan God Shel, Mexico. Photographer: Philip Coblentz. Courtesy Brand X Pictures.

Objectives

• To know what JSP is ( §35.2).

• To comprehend how a JSP page is processed ( §35.3).

• To learn how to use JSP constructs ( §35.4).

• To become familiar with JSP predefined variables and JSP directives ( § §35.5 “35.6).

• To use JavaBeans components in JSP ( §35.7 “35.9).

• To develop database applications using JSP ( §35.7 “35.9).

• To know how to forward requests from JSP ( §35.10).

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35.1. Introduction

Servlets can be used to generate dynamic Web content. One drawback, however, is that you have to embed HTML tags and text inside the Java source code. Using servlets, you have to modify the Java source code and recompile it if changes are made to the HTML text. If you have a lot of HTML script in a servlet, the program is difficult to read and maintain, since the HTML text is part of the Java program. JavaServer Pages (JSP) technology was introduced to remedy this drawback. JSP enables you to write regular HTML script in the normal way and embed Java code to produce dynamic content.