Question

The task is to create several JSPs, in which the user would be able to interact by inputting information, which would be saved on a database server, so the info can be called up later.

I’m not sure if this question is constructive enough or not, but I have no idea how to even start. I know what each one of the components means, but that’s about it. I have no idea how the whole process works and I don’t know what’s it called, so I can’t even search for it properly.

Could anyone briefly describe the process from start to finish how this system would work and what should be my first concern? I’m more interested in the JSP hosting (would Tomcat be a better choice, or is Geronimo much better in my case) and the connection of JSP to the database.

Answer 1

You need several components and layers for an application like that, so the first thing to do is select your technology stack so you don’t reinvent the wheel and adopt best practices that your frameworks include. My choice, is Spring Framework.

1. Your JSP’s represent the View Layer of your app. You can use JavaScript/AJAX to embelish your forms and sent data to your server.
2. The data that the user enters in the form is received and processed by the Controller Layer. Spring MVC has some neat collection of controllers for you to use. Once the data es ready, you can pass it to the Service Layer to execute Business Logic.
3. The Service Layer contains Business Logic rules. Spring Framework let this Layer to be simple POJO’s, and to apply Transactional logic if you wish. It’s highly probable that Service Layer requires to persist some data in the Database, so it invokes the DAO layer.
4. The classes in DAO layer have the responsability of storing data in the database. You can use several frameworks for this, and Spring supports many of them. Also, Spring includes some inherent JDBC support with templates included.

With that you can start your project. It should run with no problems in Tomcat, Geronimo or any Java EE Container