Editorial Reviews:
Marty Hall's Core Servlets and JavaServer Pages was last year's #1 servlet/JSP book -- helping over 100,000 Java developers master the power of Java server-side programming to Web-enable an extraordinary range of applications. Now, Hall takes the next step, bringing together even more powerful servlet/JSP techniques. After a quick review of the basics, Hall presents in-depth coverage of the latest servlet and JSP capabilities incorporated in JDK Version 1.4, including filters, application events, and enhancements to JSP's XML support. Next, Hall moves on to Web application development, introducing the latest Servlet 2.3/JSP 1.1 features, and offering in-depth coverage of the Web Application Deployment Descriptor. More Servlets and JavaServer Pages includes a comprehensive section introducing the new tag library features incorporated in JSP 1.2, including a full chapter on Apache tag libraries. Hall concludes with an exceptionally comprehensive library of techniques for performance optimization, from caching to content compression, metering and connection pooling to changing JVM parameters. The book also includes a full chapter on Web application security, as well as a start-to-finish case study application.
Ideal for any programmer working with server-side Java, Marty Hall's More Servlets and JavaServer Pages provides an up-to-the-minute guide to the latest in essential APIs for creating state-of-the-art Web applications. This smart, patient, and thorough tutorial gives you exactly what you need to use Java effectively in the field. While many books on Java try to cover just about everything, this title's focus on what's hot in server-side Java makes it a standout. The book begins with a very solid tutorial to servlets and JSPs, including important HTTP fundamentals (like request headers and processing forms). The author does a good job at summarizing APIs and common options, which helps make this book useful as a working reference, too. The level of discussion here is suited to those with a little Java experience, but even beginners could do a lot worse than this title as an introduction to Web programming. A great feature of this text is that the author walks you through the actual details of deploying your Web applications (notoriously tricky, even for experts). Screenshots on installing and using tools (like the free Apache and Tomcat software packages), plus detailed advice on deployment, will make sure your code actually runs. (A standout here is the summary of all configuration options available in today's containers.) If you are coming to servlets and JSPs from an earlier version, you'll find this text excels at covering the latest in custom and standard tag libraries. Besides explaining new JSP 1.2 tag conventions, later sections also look at an important new development in Sun's evolution of the Java platform, the JSP Standard Tag Library (JSTL). Coverage of tag programming (including several sections on looping) closes out the book. There's also material on important new advances in servlets, like filters (which allow you to log or change requests) and servlet events (which afford a greater measure of control for your Web applications). Whether you are a JSP beginner or expert, More Servlets and JavaServer Pages gives you an excellent mix of topics in server-side Java in a well-presented programming tutorial. It's sure to be a worthwhile addition to any working Java Web developer's bookshelf. --Richard Dragan Topics covered: Introduction to JavaServer Pages (JSPs) and servlets, software installation for Java server developers (JDK, Tomcat, Apache, JRun, and other Web containers), summary of Web application deployment directories, advantages of servlets, the servlet lifecycle, processing HTTP form data (including request headers and CGI variables), cookies and sessions, advantages of JSPs, basic JSP scripting tutorial (including expressions and scriptlets), using JavaBeans with JSPs (tags and properties), custom tag libraries, introduction to the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture, registering and deploying Web applications (.WAR files and data sharing), in-depth guide to Web application configuration (comprehensive guide to web.xml settings), configuring servlets (including filters and error pages, timeouts and installing tag libraries), case study for an online boat shop, declarative security tutorial (including SSL and form-based authentication), programmatic security (including using certificates and SSL), guide to servlet filters (including logging, replacement, and compression examples), processing servlet events, JSP 1.2 tag library improvements (including XML and SAX 2.0 tag validation), and the JSP Standard Tag Library (JSTL) (including basic statements and looping).
Customer Reviews:
Displaying 1 to 5 of 39 total reviews (Page 1 of 8):
 Comprehensive with a footnote
The book covers a lot of ground. I like the fact the the author starts with servlets rather than with JSP pages. This gives the reader a basis for anything else covered in the field of JSPs. Every single thing is supported by an example, which is very nice.
I would like however to warn JSP and Servlet newbies: the book assumes you know how to set up a servlet engine (Tomcat, Jboss, etc). The reason I say that is not because the book does not cover this topic, but because it is very obscure in the book. For example the author tells you that the way you access servlets is by typing you application directory + /servlets/ + the name of the servlet. He, for some reason, assumes that tomcat makes that url pattern the default for accesing servlets. It is not true. Tomcat leaves it up to you to decide hot to access your servlets. So you have to go and modify your web.xml file, which is not covered in the those set up sesctions of the book.
If you know how to set things up yourself, this book is invaluable.  Great for the IBM 484 Exam!
This book was a big help for me in passing IBM's exams that deal with the J2EE. Good breadth and depth in many of the categories on the exam and Marty puts things in a clear manner so you pick up the concepts quickly. Very well laid out.I'd also mention this book is way more than just servlets/jsp's, it also has a ton of stuff on really understanding the deployment of J2EE webapps and how to really get the most out of your web.xml. It also has good coverage of j2ee security and JSTL. Hope this helps others decide. A good topic, an excellent author
I've been using the Marty Hall's saga (Core Web Programming, Core Servlets, More Servlets), for almost three years now, and I can recommend him as one of the best technical authors.His treatment of Servlets and JSP is great, and I can only wait for his Struts book! His examples are clear, concise and useful. Not the typical "Hello World", but real oriented-to-learning examples. THIS is the JSP/Servlet book you are looking to buy.
I searched at a great many titles including a couple of duds before I finally settled on Marty Hall's book. Perhaps it was the "More" part that made me wonder if I would be missing something....like this was part two. As it turns out, that could not have been further from the truth and IMHO, although the titles is correct, it is a bit of a misnomer due to that misperception. This really is the book you've been looking for if you want to learn JSP/Servlet programming, particularly with Tomcat (or ServletExec). Marty takes you through a full tour of JSP in case you are a beginner as I was, but he also ensures he tells you about many features of the spec/language to a level of completeness that far exceeds many other titles I looked at. He also explains how to get up and running with several servers (but especially with Tomcat) in a way that REALLY gets you up and running...almost every book had a Tomcat section, but this one really does describe usability approaches for your workflow. That, alone, is worth the price of the book, not to mention the many great other things you will learn along the way. Furthermore, Marty is very approachable. I have e-mailed him on several occasions...one turned out to be an issue I misunderstood and another turned out to be an apparent change to the Tomcat default specs. But he typically responded to me within a matter of hours and got me up and running again on those few occasions where I became "stuck" (sure, I could have skipped the spot, but then I wouldn't UNDERSTAND it...he made sure I did understand it and replied with the WHY in each case). You may still be wondering about that "more" part...on his website for the book, he makes the full older book available as a PDF...on occasion, he refers to it in the newer book for areas that can optionally go into further detail. This avoids repeatedness, but also gives you access to yet another excellent resource even if it is only partially out-of-date. More Servlets, by contrast, is up-to-date as of the latest specifications (2.3/1.2) that have officially been released. Furthermore, he takes great care in pointing out items that are specific to the latest specification...he also points out items that are specific to certain browsers in those applicable instances. This is definitely a book that teaches you JSP/Servlets, but it also teaches you approaches, workflow, and much much more. There is a prerequisite that you need to know Java, and I readily agree with that statement...you do need to know Java (and for that, I strongly recommend HeadFirst Java by Kathy Sierra and Bert Bates!!), but given even basic Java knowledge, you can be off and running with this book and I can tell you it is very difficult to put down once you've picked it up. Ross Goldberg Nice hands-on book for starters
It's a very useful book for Servlet,JSP starters with hands-on instructions to go about it. It's written in a nice, CONCISE manner covering many topics. More Customer Reviews:
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(39 reviews)
