Question

I’m a core java guy looking to get into web application development. There are plenty of acronyms being used in web development these days and there are truck loads of information on each one of them, however, i cant seem to find any documentation that provides a top level view of where these technologies fit in. I know this is very generalized question, but if any one can recommend any books/links that can be used a starting point by a newbie like me.
Then once i have a hang of it, then i can move ahead into more advanced technologies.

Answer 1

Java EE is where you’ll be looking.

But frankly, most people it seems use just a subset of that: Servlets, JSP, and tags (or taglibs.) You’ll do well to start your reading on those topics. The Head First Servlets and JSPs book appears to be well regarded.

Now pick up a copy of Tomcat or Jetty. Both are Java web servers that provide endpoints for servlets and JSPs. You’ll be able to put your knowledge to use with some examples. (Most books will probably walk you through setting one of these up so they can then walk you through some examples.)

Then add in some reading about ORMs (Hibernate in particular is popular these days — I found Harnessing Hibernate to be a really good read) and the MVC pattern. Then, to implement what you’ve learned (or already know about) the MVC pattern, look into Struts, Spring, or Wicket on how many people implement the MVC pattern in a Java project.

There. That should keep you out of trouble for a while. =)