JSP Insider - http://www.jspinsider.com

News - Articles/Tutorials/Code/Reviews - JSP/Servlet Hosting Companies - Links

JSP Buzz: Vol. II Issue #15

JSP and Java Newsletter

8.14.2001

Table of Contents
  1. IBM Turns to (Server) Farming
  2. Net Traffic: Growing Concern
  3. McAfee Gets ASP Patent
  1. Web Application Usability
  2. JSP Books
  3. More on XSLT
  1. Using Tomcat 4 Security Realms
  2. 20 JavaScript Window Tips
  3. Java and Web Services, Part I
  4. Chapter 12: SOAP
  5. Java Server Faces and Frameworks.
  6. Java Bytecode
  7. NetBrowser
  8. Dot-Coms Already Collector's Items
  9. ServerSide J2EE Books
  10. JSP Tag Libraries - Two sample chapters
  1. Tomcat Version 4.0 Beta 7
  2. Xerces2 Beta Released!
  3. Netscape 6.1
  4. Reptile
  5. EAServer 4.0
  6. Ant 1.4 Beta
News
IBM Turns to (Server) Farming
Wired   August 2nd, 2001  
IBM is spending $4 billion to build 50 computer server farms around the world. The goal is to sell computing power over the Internet. IBM is planning on using the internet to deliver large scale computing at inexpensive prices (relative to building your own super computer).
Additional Information can be found at the InfoWorld Site.
Net Traffic: Growing Concern
The Standard   July 30th, 2001  
Internet usage is leveling off according to this article. For a web developer this is just an interesting stat more than anything else. The problem is the article doesn't give much info to really base any analysis upon. However, combined with the previous news item of IBMs server farming and the concept of services, this does highlight the potential of systems rather than people being the next area of large Internet expansion.
McAfee Gets ASP Patent
VnuNet   August 7th, 2001  
McAfee has been awarded a patent to deliver software as a web service. The patent is for delivering software through a web browser which is encapsulated within a markup language and comprises of scripts for performing one or more maintenance tasks. This patent is a very board patent and interestingly enough, people are being pretty quiet as they digest the implications. It will be interesting to watch how McAfee decides to enforce its shiny new patent. I suspect this small news story will quickly blossom out over the next few months depending on McAfee and others interpret the patent.
ZDNet has some more on this story.
Rambles
Web Application Usability
Casey Kochmer  
OK first read the following article from Jakob Nielsen:
First Rule of Usability? Don't Listen to Users
This is a review on how to work with your users to get a solid design for your web site. The one great quote I want to focus on is:
"The more a design supports users in easily and efficiently doing 
what they want to do, the more they like the design." 
So true! But how many web applications really follow this advice? More times than not, web applications don't support the user in an easy fashion. Server-side programmers fall into a trap of concentrating on the server side aspects of a web site. This results in the HTML interface being ignored or not being polished for the user. Often times the user is told, "Sorry but that cannot be done in HTML". However, the truth is with DHTML, the DOM, CSS and JavaScript the HTML interface can be polished to a high degree. The challenge for us as server-side developers is to know and understand the client side.
Two examples are:
netWindows:
Which is one of the best examples I have seen showing how to think outside the HTML box.
DHTML Kit:
Also our own collection of DHTML that we have on the site.
Granted that the client side environment can be a royal pain in the ass at times. For example, a friend of mine was having problems with page breaking. CSS has a wonderful page break command to use with HTML reports. The trouble is that the command won't work when you have absolute positioned divisions. Little things such as that, make learning the client side a pain in the neck. So I am not saying expanding the HTML limits is easy. I am saying it is possible and it is worth the price. Remember it is the client side that in the end that makes or breaks your user interface! Your users don't care how kewl or fantastic the server-side code is, all they care about are results and that the HTML pages are quick and easy.
The simple truth is that the browser can be an incredibly rich and user friendly environment, when the programmer takes the time to learn the possibilities and watch for what the users really need!
JSP Books
Casey Kochmer  
Our latest book : "Beginning JSP Web Development" will be out in the next few weeks. Jayson and I are excited and we will have a sample chapter and a contest to win copies of the book starting soon!
So it's time for Jayson and I to start work on our third book. What JSP topic do you feel is lacking or needs more attention? Let us know so we can gear our next book for your needs.
More on XSLT
Casey Kochmer  
The main topic on JSP and XML I have been working on will be printed in the next JSP Buzz. To hold the JSP Buzz readers over till the next issue here are several excellent XSL, XML and JSP links to read through.
Web Application Development with JSP and XML.
Writing XML with Java.
Using XSLT and Loops.
Humans should not have to grok XML.
Links
Using Tomcat 4 Security Realms
James Goodwill   July 24th, 2001  
A nice review on how you can implement security within the Tomcat JSP container. The article covers how to use an XML file or a database to define your sites logon security. Worth a visit if you use Tomcat.
20 JavaScript Window Tips
Brent Lee Metcalfe   July 16th, 2001  
Of course as JSP developers we need to learn and "love" JavaScript. This is a nice walk thru on how to use JavaScript to open multiple browser windows.
Java and Web Services, Part I
Al Saganich   August 8th, 2001  
This is an introduction to the concepts of web services. There has been a lot of talk about web services, but if you are still unsure about the web services picture then check out this article. Not worth reading for anyone already having a basic understanding of web services.
Chapter 12: SOAP
Brett McLaughlin   August 2001  
This is an excerpt from Java and XML, 2nd Edition , to be published in September 2001 by O'Reilly. A good introduction to the subject of SOAP. As with everything Brett writes, this is simply excellent. If you know nothing about SOAP then this will be for you.
Java Server Faces and Frameworks.
JavaLobby   August 5th, 2001  
A discussion on presentation frameworks to make Java Internet development easier. While there isn't much meat in this discussion yet, It does give a brief taste of what frameworks exist in the marketplace.
Java Bytecode
JavaLobby   August 3rd, 2001  
This is a conversation which happens over and over again about bytecode decompilers and protecting Java code. If you are worried about protecting your Java code and don't know much about the issues, then this discussion thread is worth reading.
NetBrowser
NetBeans   Just Starting  
The NetBrowser project has started to create an embeddable browser for the NetBeans IDE and other Java applications. A neat project and one to watch. The project seems to be looking for programmers to join so if you are interested take a look!
Dot-Coms Already Collector's Items
NY Times   August 13th, 2001  
Well many dot coms might have bit the bullet, but all the pr stuff is worth some money.
ServerSide J2EE Books
TheServerSide   On Going  
TheServerSide.com is hosting two new J2EE book projects: Mastering EJB II, and EJB Design Patterns. Chapters from these two new books will be posted to TSS as they are written for public feedback. Inspired by Bruce Eckel's Thinking in Java, you will be able to directly participate in the writing of these two influential books and personally influence thousands of developers who will learn from them.
JSP Tag Libraries - Two sample chapters
Sun   August 2001  
Here are two sample chapters from JSP Tag Libraries by Gal Shachor, Adam Chace, and Magnus Rydin. The two chapters are Chapter 6, Tag Development Techniques and Chapter 8, Using JavaBeans with Tags. Both are in PDF.
Products
Tomcat Version 4.0 Beta 7
Jakarta   August 9th, 2001  
Tomcat releases are coming out at a furious rate. This week Beta 7 of Tomcat 4 was just let loose to wander the world.
Xerces2 Beta Released!
Apache   August 10th, 2001  
Xerces2 is the next generation of high performance XML parsers. This release is a nearly complete rewrite of the Xerces 1.x codebase in order to make the code cleaner, more modular, and easier to maintain. Applications using only the standard interfaces such as JAXP, DOM, and SAX should not see any differences.
Netscape 6.1
Netscape   August 2001  
The latest version of Netscape is out. It uses the gecko 0.9.2 engine which is great news. Its faster and better than ever. I was just reading that the 0.9.2 branch builds were more stable than Netscape 4.78, so Netscape 6.1 is based upon a solid engine.
Reptile
Version 0.0.1   July 28th, 2001  
Reptile is a peer-to-peer content syndication engine. Reptile nodes can publish to each other and provides a decentralized authentication model using cryptographic mechanisms. Reptile is built using Java and XML, and is fully Open Source/Free Software This project has only just gotten started so it is too early to make any comments.
EAServer 4.0
Sybase   August 13th, 2001  
EAServer 4.0 Fully Supports J2EE 1.3. Also the new version of EAServer has a built in JSP and Servlet container. EAServer also has CORBA 2.3, COM, and PowerBuilder support. This release also has strong support for Web services.
Ant 1.4 Beta
Jakarta   August 9th 2001  
This is the first Beta of release Ant 1.4. Too many changes and fixes to list here, but the above link has all the updates listed on it. If you have no idea what ANT is then I strongly suggest you check it out. One of the most useful tools you will ever find as a programmer.

Browse all of the JSP Insider source-code.

Questions or comments? Contact support@jspinsider.com.