Product Description

Jakarta Struts Project provides an open source framework for creating Web applications that leverage both the Java Servlets and JavaServer Pages technologies. Struts has received developer support and is quickly becoming a dominant actor in the open source community.

• James Goodwill is a well–respected authority and bestselling author of books on Java Web applications
• Provides a hands–on, code–intensive tutorial on building Java Web applications using the Jakarta Struts Framework
• Companion Web site provides electronic versions of all code examples in the book

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1231314 in Books
• Published on: 2002-09-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 360 pages

Review
"...pleasantly written...guides you by the hand with small understandable and practical examples..." (CVu, Vol 16(4), August 2004)

From the Back Cover
A code–intensive guide to using the Jakarta Struts Framework to build Java Web applications

Developing Web applications with Java became considerably easier with the advent of JavaServer Pages (JSP) and servlets. Unfortunately, when used for large–scale applications, JSPs have been less successful–– they can become bloated with code, resulting in applications that are slow and inefficient. Jakarta Struts helps provide the solution to this problem. Struts handles a number of specific tasks involved in controlling how servlets, EJBs, and other components work together. It also makes use of JSP custom tags to help developers create interactive, form–based applications.

James Goodwill has loaded each chapter with real–world code examples that show how to build applications using Jakarta Struts. Written for experienced Java programmers who need to learn how to use Struts to build enterprise–level applications, this book begins by examining the concepts and architecture of the Struts Framework of technologies. It then explains how to use

Struts to:

• Build JavaBean and model components
• Build view components
• Build controller components
• Access relational databases
• Work with Struts HTML–based forms
• Work with action mappings and deployment descriptors
• Build JavaBean objects using the Struts Digester
• Build internationalized Web applications

The companion Web site contains electronic versions of all code examples in the book, plus fully operating versions of the applications described in the book.

Wiley Computer Publishing. Timely. Practical. Reliable.

Visit our Web site at www.wiley.com/compbooks/
Visit the companion Web site at www.wiley.com/compbooks/goodwill

About the Author
JAMES GOODWILL is the cofounder and Chief Technology Officer at Virtuas Solutions, LLC, located in Denver, Colorado. He has extensive experience in designing and architecting Java e–business applications. He currently leads Virtuas’s efforts to develop cutting–edge tools for J2EE e–business acceleration. He is also the author of Mastering JSP Custom Tags and Tag Libraries (Wiley), Developing Java Servlets, Pure JSP: JavaServer Pages, and Apache Jakarta–Tomcat, all of which provide complete coverage of technologies for designing and developing Java Web applications.

Customer Reviews

Rushed, crammed with errors
Having struggled to gain a handle on struts using the patchy tutorials available on the web, I looked forward to this book (the first published about Stuts) as a way of clearing up the complications. However I've found this book has managed to make the subject even more complex!

Throughout trivial examples are used, demonstrating the most basic options available. A more indepth complete application is discussed at the end of the book, but it is down to the reader to workout and understand exactly what is going on.

Frustratingly page headings and code fragment labels are incorrect throughout the book. Some code fragments are labelled "web.xml", when infact they are "struts-config.xml" - hardly helpful when flicking through the book looking for an example of a particular file!

I recommend you wait for other books arrive on the market, rather than jump in on this one.

Mastering?
I bought this book with the intention of getting to know Struts well.
I have never used Struts in an application before but I am experienced in writing Servlets and JSPs. I have also read some articles about Struts.

After reading through the many typos and cut-and-paste errors, this book gave me no Master-abilities at all. It gave an acceptable introduction, thats it.

The book uses features from Struts 1.1 but it does not mention anything about interesting fetures such as: DynaActionForms, Tiles, validators and declarative exception handling which I have read about on the JavaWorld and Onjava sites.

The code example in the book uses code that has not been refactored and probably is architecturally bad since it does not use the FrontController for tasks such as Authentication etc.

The appendices contains no additional information about how to use the tag libraries than what can be found on the web in a second.

Mastering (learning) basic struts
Unlike other reviewers, I am not as harsh on this book. The reason that others are probably disappointed is in the use of "Mastering" in the title. The book does not attempt to make you an all signing all dancing struts pro who knows EJB, facades,Tiles, Velocity, all the new struts 1.1. features. It attempts to take you through the ideas behind struts, and to end up with you writing a struts application which is not hidden by the complexities of all the wonderful struts 1.1/EJB etc features which you will use one day. As a primer it is fine, and fulfills its purpose. Once you have graduated from this level then try real "Mastering" books.