Java has been the leader in web development for decades in terms of stability, scalability, and richness of the ecosystem. From the most simple form submissions to application-level giant applications, Java offers an extensive range of tools and frameworks to make the whole development process easier and faster. Three such critical frameworks are Spring Boot, Servlet and JSP, which is an acronym for JavaServer Pages.
In this blog post, we will discuss the key technologies involved and their role in Java web development, as well as why they are essential for a budding web developer to learn.
Introduction to Java Web Development
Java web development refers to the process of developing Java web applications for the World Wide Web. Perl is a widely used web development language because of its capability, speed and powerful tools, which are available in Java. It is principally deployed on any server that supports Java applications; thus, it enjoys the support of developers from all over the world.
Foundation of Java Web Development Servlet
Servlets are the building blocks of Java web development because they allow any Java program to accept requests and responses in a web environment. In fact, a Servlet is nothing but a Java class that extends the functionality of a server hosting an application and thus allows it to service HTTP requests such as GET, POST, etc.
Key Features of Servlet:
Requests Processing: Servlets are mainly used to process incoming requests and generate responses. Servlets can process form data, track sessions and handle cookies.
Lifecycle Management: The container, be it Tomcat or another container, actually controls a servlet’s life cycle, doing jobs such as initialisation, request processing and destruction.
Platform Independence: Servlets are a deployable, portable solution for the development of web applications because they can be executed on any Java-enabled web server.
Simplifying JSP (JavaServer Pages)
Java Server Pages is a technology through which one writes dynamic web pages directly with the inclusion of Java code within HTML. This enables the developers to write web pages that can have access to side-server Java code, making it possible to bring dynamic content into view following a request from the user.
Importance of JSP:
Separation of Concerns: JSP separates presentation and business logic, allowing developers to focus on designing the user interface while letting the pure server-side Java code do the rest.
Tag Libraries: JSP supports user-defined tags and tag libraries that tend to make the task of repeatedly writing the same HTML a little easier.
An integration with Servlets: JSP is normally used by integrating it with Servlet, where the servlet processes the request and the JSP generates the view.
The Modern Approach to Java Spring Boot
Spring Boot is one of the many frameworks that can be used to quickly and effectively develop web applications using Java. It is a subset of the Spring Framework that makes it possible to develop production-ready applications directly by using pre-configured templates, easier management of dependencies and built-in tools for testing.
Considering Spring Boot:
Auto-Configuration: Spring Boot has removed boilerplate code so that components can auto configure themselves. Therefore, developers do not need to worry much about configuration; they can focus more on writing business logic.
Microservices architecture: It fits well with the Spring Boot design model because it simplifies the development, testing and deployment of small web applications.
Embedded Servers: Spring Boot offers integrated web containers like Tomcat, jetty, etc. Therefore, it is easier to deploy the application.
Key Features of Spring Boot:
Spring Initialiser- A tool that instantiates a fresh Spring project in minutes, preconfiguring all of those dependencies for you.
RESTful APIs Spring Boot: It makes the development of RESTful web services so simple that you can focus solely on HTTP requests and generating JSON or XML responses.
Data Access: The architecture is quite integrated with JPA and Hibernate. It has made database interaction a lot easier.
Combination Frameworks Workflow
In a typical Java web application, Servlet, JSP and Spring Boot can work in harmony to build a strong solution:
- In addition to these, Servelts manages the lower-level request processing and the business logic.
- The presentation layer is cared for by JSP, which dynamically creates HTML based on user input.
- The overall framework Spring Boot offers brings a much-simplified environment in which the entire application may be developed and then deployed very efficiently.
The Future of Java Web Development
Java’s web development ecosystem is so dynamic, with tools, frameworks and new practices emerging every now and then. Microservices, cloud computing, and serverless architectures are so trendy, and Java frameworks like Spring Boot have evolved continuously to keep up with these trends.
Cloud Integration: They have been primarily following the cloud and microservices architecture as so many applications are shifting to the cloud nowadays. So, it has become a great blend with Spring Boot and provides scalable, native-cloud-based applications with all three leading cloud platforms, namely AWS, GCP and Azure.
Serverless Architectures: Java frameworks now accommodate serverless environments where one can publish functions without even caring about the servers, reducing operational overhead while having faster iterations.
Conclusion
Java web development can be used with versatile, powerful frameworks which make development much easier and more beautiful. Knowledge of Servlets, JSP and Spring Boot will make you capable of developing modern web applications that scale enough. You can master Java Spring Boot with the London School of Emerging Technology (LSET). Their Java programming course with Spring Boot offers extensive insight and knowledge about Java as a whole. And with that, this October, students will get an internship opportunity from LSET where they can implement their knowledge and become industry-ready.