JSTL in Action

Like JSTL, this book is aimed at both programmers and nonprogrammers. Parts 1, 2, and 3 are accessible to page authors who start out with nothing more than HTML. Part 4 is intended for Java programmers—and ambitious page authors who want to learn more about how JSTL works behind the scenes.

In part 1, we look broadly at the Web and at two technologies that are important foundations to JSTL: JavaServer Pages ( JSP) and the Extensible Markup Language (XML).

In part 2, we delve into JSTL’s depths. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 lay the necessary groundwork by discussing JSTL’s expression language, conditions, and loops. Chapters 6 through 10 discuss the more exciting features of JSTL: database access, XML manipulation, text importing and formatting, and so forth.

In part 3 (chapters 11, 12, and 13), we look at progressively more complete and integrated examples of JSTL in action. We start with common, stand-alone tasks and move to an example of organizing an entire site—a web portal—using JSTL.

Finally, part 4 discusses how to configure JSTL, integrate Java code, and even write custom tags using JSTL’s API. The appendices contain reference material. Appendix A is a brief summary of all of JSTL’s tags. Appendix B lists JSTL’s API and goes into detail about some of its advanced features. Appendix C describes the basics of SQL to help you follow some of the book’s examples, and appendix D lists online and printed references.

How to approach the book :
If you’re a web-page author who knows HTML, you’ll probably want to start at the beginning. Chapters 1 and 2 will be particularly useful to you, and you can read the rest of the book in order, stopping somewhere around chapter 14 if the material becomes less interesting to you. If you already know JavaScript, pay special attention to chapter 3, because you’ll need to master the details of JSTL’s expression language.

JavaScript won’t help you produce dynamic server-side logic in this environment. If you don’t know SQL, appendix C will help you follow the book’s database examples. If you’re an experienced Java programmer looking to master JSTL in order to use or teach it, you can probably skip part 1. You might want to begin by focusing on the expression language in chapter 3. Chapters 4 and 5 will be a breeze, but the rest of part 2 should be useful in orienting you to JSTL’s tag-set. The examples in part 3 will be useful, and part 4 is specially intended for you. Also, appendix B is both a thorough reference and an indispensable introduction to some of JSTL’s advanced features.

If you have a background in JSP but aren’t familiar with Java, then parts 2 and 3 will be particularly useful to you. Also, the beginning of chapter 14—integrating JSTL with scriptlets—might be helpful. In general, the book gets more advanced as it moves forward. Most readers will gain less by reading the book backward (but if you find any interesting hidden messages that way, be sure to let me know).

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