This book recognizes the different needs of the two groups of professionals who want to learn JSP: page authors interested in using JSP elements in web pages, and programmers concerned with learning the JSP API and using JSP effectively as a part of an enterprise application. If you're in the first group, you'll learn from the practical web application examples in the second part of the book. If you're in the latter group, you'll appreciate the detailed coverage of advanced topics in the third part, such as how to integrate servlets and JavaBeans components with JSP using the popular Apache Struts MVC framework, and how to develop custom tag libraries using the JSP API, with realistic examples that you can use as a springboard for your own libraries.

"Hans Bergsten, a JSP expert group veteran and one of our most active contributors, has thoroughly and accurately captured the new features of JSP 2.0 and JSTL 1.1 in a way that is well-organized and easy to understand. With excellent, to-the-point examples, this book is a "must-have" for any serious JSP 2.0 developer."

--Mark Roth, JSP 2.0 Specification Lead, Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Chapter 1, Introducing JavaServer Pages

• What Is JavaServer Pages?
• Why Use JSP?
• What You Need to Get Started

• The HTTP Request/Response Model
• Servlets

• The Problem With Servlets
• The Anatomy of a JSP Page
• JSP Processing
• JSP Application Design with MVC

• Installing the Java Software Development Kit
• Installing the Tomcat Server
• Testing Tomcat
• Installing the Book Examples
• Example Web Application Overview

Chapter 5, Generating Dynamic Content

• Creating a JSP Page
• Installing a JSP Page
• Running a JSP Page
• Using JSP Directive Elements
• Using Template Text
• Using JSP Action Elements

• What is a Bean?
• Declaring a Bean in a JSP Page
• Reading Bean Properties
• Setting Bean Properties

• What is a Custom Tag Library?
• Installing a Custom Tag Library
• Declaring a Custom Tag Library
• Using Actions from a Tag Library

• Reading Request Parameter Values
• Validating User Input
• Formatting HTML Output

• Dealing With Syntax Errors
• Debugging a JSP Application
• Dealing With Runtime Errors

• Passing Control and Data Between Pages
• Sharing Session and Application Data
• Online Shopping
• Memory Usage Considerations

• Creating and Using a Tag File
• Accessing Attribute Values
• Processing the Action Body
• Processing Fragment Attributes
• Exposing Data to the Calling Page Through Variables
• Aborting the Page Processing
• Packaging Tag Files for Easy Reuse

• Accessing a Database From a JSP Page
• Validation Complex Input Without a Bean
• Using Transactions
• Application-Specific Database Actions

• Container-Provided Authentication
• Application-Controlled Authentication
• Other Security Concerns

• How Java Supports Internationalization And Localization
• Generating Localized Output
• A Brief History of Bits
• Handling Localized Input

• Generating an XML Response
• Transforming XML into HTML
• Transforming XML into a Device-Dependent Format
• Processing XML Data

• Using Page Directive Scripting Attributes
• Implicit JSP Scripting Objects
• Using Scriptlets
• Using Expressions
• Using Declarations
• Mixing Action Elements and Scripting Elements
• Dealing with Scripting Syntax Errors

• Buffering
• Including Page Fragments
• Global Configuration Options
• Mixing Client-Side and Server-Side Code
• Precompiling JSP Pages
• Preventing Caching of JSP Pages
• Writing JSP Pages as XML Documents
• How URIs Are Interpreted

Chapter 18, Web Application Models

• The Java 2 Enterprise Edition Model
• The MVC Design Model
• Scalability

• Servlets, Filters, and Listeners
• Picking the Right Component Type for Each Task
• Initializing Shared Resources Using a Listener
• Access Control Using a Filter
• Centralized Request Processing Using a Servlet
• Using a Common JSP Error Page

• Beans as JSP Components
• JSP Bean Examples
• Unexpected <jsp:setProperty> Behavior

• Developing Simple Tag Handlers
• Developing Classic Tag Handlers
• Developing Tag Library Functions
• Creating the Tag Library Descriptor
• Packaging and Installing a Tag Library

• Developing Cooperating Actions
• Validating Syntax
• Using a Listener in a Tag Library
• Dynamic Attribute Values and Types

• Setting and Using Configuration Variables
• Integrating Custom Conditional Actions
• Integrating Custom Iteration Actions
• Integrating Custom I18N Actions
• Integrating Custom Database Access Actions
• Using JSTL Tag Library Validators

• JDBC Basics
• Using Connections and Connection Pools
• Making a Connection Pool Available to
  Application Components
• Using a Generic Database Bean
• Developing Application-Specific Database Components

Appendix A: JSP Elements Reference

Appendix B: JSTL Actions and API Reference

Appendix C: JSP Expression Language Reference

Appendix D: JSP API Reference

Appendix E: Book Example Custom Actions
and API Reference

Appendix F: Web Application Structure
and Deployment Descriptor Reference

Index