Using Servlets and Java Server Pages with EJB

Using JSP Tag Libraries

Even with all the separation given by the MVC pattern, you still can find JSP pages that contain a great deal of logic. It would be nice to be able to encapsulate the more common behavior into a library and then reuse that library throughout your pages. This is one of the main goals of JSP custom tag libraries. Although JSP tag libraries have been around for a while, not many JSP applications have taken full advantage of them. Most of the time, it's due to not really understanding the benefit that they can add to the application.

One of the nice things about JSP tag libraries is that many people are building tag libraries for things that most Web applications need to do, and they are sharing these free with everyone. So, for example, if you need a tag library that displays a read-only calendar, it's out there. If you need one that handles different languages, it's probably out there. One of the best sites for information on JSP tag libraries is

http://www.jsptags.com

Before you start building a tag library, you might visit this site or some of the ones mentioned on this site to see whether someone has already built what you need.