Java
JavaServer Pages or JSP is one of the small things Java has developed to aid the developers in building faster and better Java based applications. JavaServer Pages has the ability to built HTML documents every time they are requested by user or when triggered by the application.
Through JSP, developers will have the ability to build a webpage that will not require a very strong bandwidth. A simple Java application will require the user an installed Java and a faster bandwidth for loading, JSP will only require the user a pre-installed Java and the rest will be rendered in HTML. JSP even goes further as it uses XML as its mark-up language.
When the concept of Ajax became popular, frameworks like GWT and DWR has practically flourished because it has helped the developers build an Ajax webpage without writing a single line of JavaScript. GWT converts the coding into JavaScript while DWR enables Java to remotely control its JavaScript counterpart in the client-side. Because of these frameworks, developers do not have to learn JavaScript but instead just familiarize themselves to the concepts of Java based frameworks. On the part of XML, developers can still use the same mark-up and easily integrated them to the Ajax based application.
Some developers may not realize it but JSP can also be integrated to the Ajax development framework. JSP comes with a library that covers most of the functionality of an application. Developers just need to know which library can be used in an Ajax based application. The libraries in JSP even come in tags which is a better option for developers especially in a framework where it might offer limited functionality.
There are two tag libraries of JSP that could be used by developers to provide more functionality to their application:
XTags – If you are looking for an XML library that provides more function and options for developers, XTags is a perfect library for you. XTags has the ability to convert documents into XML. The library also has the capability to use XSLT on any XML document a developer would infuse to the application. But even if you use the XTags for simple functions it would still perform as expected or even better.
JSP Controls – Works great in Ajax, JSP controls lets you create functions such as log-in or any other verifying functions to your application. This set of library also has progress bars. For example, a user uploads a large information to your application. You can use one of the functions of JSP controls to show progress bar. That way, users will know the real time update whether or not they have uploaded their information. This function also works in non-Ajax applications.
These are only two of the tag libraries in JSP. If you are developing an Ajax based application and uses a Java based framework, you can use these tags to build a lightweight application. The framework on the other hand, will just continue its operation just like it treats a regular Java coded application.
