Special Edition Using Java™ 2 Enterprise Edition

Single-Tiered Applications

Many Web applications are single-tiered, often out of necessity. Many Web providers don't provide database access, so applications have had to rely on local file storage. With the advent of small, cheap database engines such as MySQL, more Web providers are providing database access. There are still plenty of occasions where a single-tiered application is appropriate. Figure 1.2 shows the structure of a typical single-tiered application.

Figure 1.2. A single-tiered application manages presentation, business logic, and data from a single component.

Although single-tiered applications can have a fairly complex presentation ...