JavaServer Pages Technology

JavaServer Pages (JSP) technology allows developers to rapidly create and easily maintain web-based analytic applications using familiar DHTML technologies, including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript™, along with dynamic scripting elements that enable developers to use Java™ and server-side processing. This technology also helps developers create applications that are less prone to the vulnerabilities of cross-browser idiosyncrasies. In a nutshell, the primary advantages of JSP technology are:

Separating content generation from presentation
Using JSP technology, web page developers can use HTML or XML tags to design and format web application pages. JSP tags and scriptlets allow web page developers to use familiar tag syntax and scripting capabilities to generate pages, with the core program logic being hidden within custom tag libraries and Java beans. Advanced Java developers can use Java to create these reusable components that can be used by web page designers and application developers.
Emphasis on reusable components
Most JSP pages rely on the use of cross-platform, reusable components, such as Java beans and servlets. Using JSP makes it easier for web page designers and developers to generate content using Java beans and servlet components. For example, Blox are Java beans that interact with server peers, but developers can use simple tags to define these beans.
Simplification of web development with tags
JSP technology enables dynamic content generation by encapsulating much of the functionality in easy-to-use, JSP-specific XML tags. These standard JSP tags are used to interact with JavaBeans™ components, set and get bean attributes, and perform other functions that would otherwise be more difficult and time-consuming to code. The use of JSP custom tag libraries allow Alphablox and others to create easy-to-use tags that can be used by web page designers and developers, while hiding the complexity that they don’t need to be concerned with.

Developing with Analytics APIs assumes basic familiarity with JavaServer Pages technology, but even without this knowledge, you can still create some basic Alphablox applications. The remainder of this topic focuses on explaining how to use JSP with Alphablox.

To learn more about the JavaServer Pages technology, the following books and web sites are recommended by Alphablox: