Simpler, faster, easier, dynamic website development based on new additions to an established and proven technology-that's what JavaServer Pages (JSP) 2 with 2.1 is all about. Pro JSP 2, Fourth Edition is the most comprehensive guide and reference to JSP 2 yet, as defined in the Proposed Final Draft of the JSP 2.1 specification, and compliant with the new lightweight Java EE 5 platform from Sun. It equips you with the tools, techniques, and understanding you need to develop web applications with JSP and Java servlets.
The new features of the JSP 2.1 and Servlet 2.5 specifications make developing web applications easier than ever before. The updated JSP expression language (EL) provides a simple language for creating JSP pages and tags. In addition, by using the JSP Standard Tag Library (JSTL), you'll never have to use a Java scriptlet or write spaghetti code again. Furthermore, JSP 2.1 includes features that let you integrate with the JavaServer Faces (JSF) API, which is a relatively new Java EE technology used for creating web-based user interfaces.
Beyond covering the JSP and Servlet APIs, this book shows you how to choose and implement the best persistence option for your web applications, secure your websites against malicious attacks and accidental misuse, improve the performance and scalability of your JSP pages, and architect and design your applications to be reliable, stable, and maintainable through the use of design patterns and best practices.
Finally, no JSP book would be complete today without an examination of the role that open-source projects such as Ant, Struts, XDoclet, JUnit, and Cactus can play in making your web development even easier.