Introduction

Should I take this tutorial?

This tutorial is for developers who want to learn more about using JavaServer Pages (JSP) technology to build applications. It discusses the basics of JSP components in general, their integration with JavaBeans, and the creation and use of custom tag libraries.

The tutorial assumes a basic familiarity with Java syntax, but in-depth Java experience is not required. Familiarity with JDBC, HTML and with XML are helpful, but not required.

Back to top

What is this tutorial about?

This series follows the creation of MetroSphere, a community weblog and information marketplace, from project conception to completion. MetroSphere uses IBM WebSphere Portal Server as its base platform, and the portlets that run within the portal typically use JavaServer Pages components to control their output.

JavaServer Pages is a topic that can be confusing if you attempt to get into the details without understanding how the overall technology works. This tutorial is designed to give a reader with no experience in JavaServer Pages technology all of the background necessary to write a fairly sophisticated JSP application without bogging down in details. It chronicles the creation of the basic weblogging, or blogging, application for MetroSphere, detailing the following:

• JSP basics
• Creating the database
• Creating and testing the Blog Entry bean
• Integrating the bean with a JSP page
• Using HTML forms with JSP pages
• Creating and using custom tag libraries

The tutorial is not meant to be an in-depth reference on any of these topics, but will provide you with the big picture and enable you to dive into the details given by other pieces listed in Resources.

Back to top

Tools

In order to follow along with this tutorial, you will need to have a JSP-capable environment installed and tested. You can do this in several ways, but the simplest are:

• Install WebSphere Studio. WebSphere Studio provides an incredibly convenient environment for not only building and compiling JSP components and the Java classes that are used with them, but also for testing them in preparation for deployment to a production system. You can download WebSphere Studio from http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/downloads/ws/wstudio. Instructions for deploying the completed application to WebSphere Application Server can be found in Resources. The few screenshots in this tutorial show WebSphere Studio Application Developer V4 because that's the version that comes with WebSphere Portal, but the concepts are the same for WebSphere Studio Application Developer Version 5 and for other configurations of WebSphere Studio.
• You will also need a JDBC-compliant database in which to store the weblog entries created by the application. This tutorial uses IBM DB2 Universal Database, which you can download at https://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/iwm/web/preLogin.do?source=db2udbdl&S_TACT=103AMW07.

1 of 9 | Next

Comments

Back to top

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Laying the foundation
• JSP basics
• Adding the entry bean
• Processing forms
• Tag libraries
• Summary
• Resources
• About the author

---

1 of 9 | Next

Next steps from IBM

• Try: WebSphere Portal Express
• Briefing: WebSphere flexible business processes
• Buy: WebSphere Portal Express

Dig deeper into Java on developerWorks

Discover knowledge paths

Skill-building guides for Java, Linux, open source, cloud, business analytics, and more.