MySQL Cookbook

Appendix B. JSP and Tomcat Primer

This appendix describes some essential concepts of JavaServer Pages (JSP) programming, which is used earlier in this book beginning with Chapter 16. The necessary background is fairly extensive, which is why the material is presented here in a separate appendix rather than breaking up the flow of that chapter. The topics discussed here are:

• A brief overview of servlet and JSP technologies

• Setting up the Tomcat server

• Tomcat’s directory structure

• The layout of web applications

• Elements of JSP pages

For additional information about JSP pages, servlets, or Tomcat, see Appendix C.

Servlet and JavaServer Pages Overview

Java servlet technology is a means by which to execute Java programs efficiently in a web environment. The Java Servlet Specification defines the conventions of this environment, which may be summarized briefly as follows:

• Servlets run inside a servlet container, which itself either runs inside a web server or communicates with one. Servlet containers are also known as servlet engines.

• The servlet container receives requests from the web server and executes the appropriate servlet to process the request. The container then receives the response from the servlet and gives it to the web server, which in turn returns it to the client. A servlet container thus provides the connection between servlets and the web server under which they run. The container acts as the servlet runtime environment, with responsibilities that include determining the ...