A few years ago, the hype surrounding applets put Java on the map as a programming language for the Web. Today, Java servlets stand poised to take Java to the next level as a Web development language. The main reason is that servlets offer a fast, powerful, portable replacement for CGI scripts. The Java Servlet API, introduced as the first standard extension to Java, provides a generic mechanism to extend the functionality of any kind of server. Servlets are most commonly used, however, to extend Web servers, performing tasks traditionally handled by CGI programs. Web servers that can support servlets include: Apache, Netscape's FastTrack and Enterprise Servers, Microsoft's IIS, O'Reilly's WebSite, and JavaSoft's Java Web Server. The beauty of servlets is that they execute within the Web server's process space and they persist between invocations. This gives servlets tremendous performance benefits over CGI programs. Yet because they're written in Java, servlets are far less likely to crash a Web server than a C-based NSAPI or ISAPI extension. Servlets have full access to the various Java APIs and to third-party component classes, making them ideal for use in communicating with applets, databases, and RMI servers. Plus, servlets are portable between operating systems and between servers -- with servlets you can "write once, serve everywhere." Java Servlet Programming covers everything you need to know to write effective servlets and includes numerous examples that you can use as the basis for your own servlets. The book explains the servlet life cycle, showing how you can use servlets to maintain state information effortlessly. It also describes how to serve dynamic Web content, including both HTML pages and multimedia data. Finally, it explores more advanced topics like integrated session tracking, efficient database connectivity using JDBC, applet-servlet communication, inter-servlet communication, and internationalization.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 155 Ratings

Excellent in-depth book - 2005-03-05
Reviewer Rating:
I completely agree with the 5-star positive reviews listed here. I saw a couple of new ones that were not so positive, so I wanted to voice my opinion.

This book is very well written - well structured, with in depth explanations, humor, good code examples. It can be used both as a tutorial and as a reference.

Even though it may be showing its age now in a couple of places (e.g. Tapestry is not mentioned, uses JDK 1.0 and 1.1 for the examples), it is still very good. It paints a complete picture, so one ends up with understanding of the principles and architecture - which is what matters - for the updated APIs there is always JavaDOC.

I don't know how suitable it is for beginners, but for an experienced programmer it is a thoroughly enjoyable read - once I started it I couldn't stop until I finished (I didn't actually type the examples - that isn't necessary for understanding the material) .

Nicely Done - 2004-12-05
Reviewer Rating:
This book's examples in later chapters may be a bit much for the beginner, but it does a good job of covering thing very well. Good coverage of various protocols, etc.

OK for beginners - 2004-05-16
Reviewer Rating:
I wouldn't say this is an excellent book, but it's not bad. The book covers good fundamentals in its first 8 chapters for those beginning Servlets. The book also covers some useful information on JDBC and Java Server Pages. There's also some additional coverage on Applet-Servlet communication, Internationalization and Tea & WebMacro application frameworks. However some topics like JavaBeans, SSL, Filters, deployment descriptors and XML were too brief and should have been given some depth. Another dissappointment is that all examples are based on API 2.2 but not 2.3!!. The Appendix just touches on new features of API 2.3 with also a separate listing of API 2.3.
It's been 8 mths since I purchased this book. I'd suggest that starters either wait for the next edition or get something that is based on Servlet API 2.3.

Excellent book on Servlets and Java - 2006-02-08
Reviewer Rating:
If you do not understand servlets and program in Java this book is for you. I found it very easy to read and comprehend right off the bat. The examples are excellent and you will get off writing servlets very quickly. It is somewhat shallow in complex examples but then again how complex are servlets. Some best practices and commercial examples could have helped a lot.

ok book, not the best tutorial - 2004-10-19
Reviewer Rating:
I found this book to be semi helpful. It would have been nice if it was more tutorial like. The examples also were not the most straightforward. The book does cover alot though.

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