In 1999, Sun Microsystems split the Java language into three editions, J2SE (Java 2, Standard Edition), J2ME (Java 2, Micro Edition), and J2EE (Java 2, Enterprise Edition). The reason for the split was that the Java language was covering a lot of territory, and not all developers used all the features of the language. To make the language more manageable, the decision was made to split the language into the three editions.
Since then, the different editions of the language have been renamed to Java SE, Java ME, and Java EE. The reason for renaming the different editions was that the Java platform obtained brand recognition among consumers, and Sun Microsystems wanted to make it obvious that Java SE, ME, and EE were recognized as part of the Java platform.
All three editions share the core of the Java language, but additional APIs are included in each edition that are not available in the others. In this book we will cover Java EE, and how to use NetBeans to more effectively write applications conforming to the Java EE specification.
Chapter 1 provides an introduction to NetBeans, giving time saving tips and tricks that will result in more efficient development of Java applications.
Chapter 2 covers how NetBeans aids in the development of web applications using the servlet API and JavaServer Pages.
Chapter 3 shows how NetBeans can help us create maintainable web applications by taking advantage of JavaServer Pages Standard Tag Library (JSTL), and it also covers how to write our own custom JSP tags.
Chapter 4 explains how NetBeans can help us easily develop web applications that take advantage of the JavaServer Faces framework.
Chapter 5 explains how NetBeans allows us to easily develop applications taking advantage of the Java Persistence API (JPA), including how to automatically generate JPA entities from existing schemas. This chapter also covers how complete web based applications can be generated with a few clicks from an existing database schema.
Chapter 6 covers the NetBeans visual web JSF designer, which allows us to visually build JSF applications by dragging and dropping components into our JSF pages.
Chapter 7 discusses how NetBeans simplifies EJB 3 session bean development.
Chapter 8 addresses Java EE messaging technologies such as the Java Messaging Service (JMS) and Message Driven Beans (MDB), covering NetBeans features that simplify application development taking advantage of these APIs.
Chapter 9 explains how NetBeans can help us easily develop web services based on the Java API for XML Web Services (JAX-WS) API.
Chapter 10 provides a sample application taking advantages of most of the material covered in the book, including Visual Web JSF, EJB 3, and JPA .
Appendix A provides an introduction to the NetBeans debugger, and how it can be used to discover defects in our application.
Appendix B covers the NetBeans profiler, explaining how it can be used to analyze performance issues in our applications.
The book is aimed at three different types of developers:
Java developers (not necessarily familiar with NetBeans) wishing to become proficient in Java EE 5, and who wish to use NetBeans for Java EE development.
NetBeans users wishing to find out how to use their IDE of choice to develop Java EE applications.
Experienced Java EE 5 developers wishing to find out how NetBeans can make their Java EE 5 development easier.
In this book, you will find a number of styles of text that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles, and an explanation of their meaning.
Code words in text are shown as follows: "Earlier in this chapter we discussed how the required attribute for JSF input fields allows us to easily make input fields mandatory."
A block of code will be set as follows:
<navigation-rule> <from-view-id>/welcomeJSF.jsp</from-view-id> <navigation-case> <from-outcome>submit</from-outcome> <to-view-id>/confirmation.jsp</to-view-id> </navigation-case> </navigation-rule>
When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items will be made bold:
<h:inputText id="email" label="Email Address"
required="true" value="#{RegistrationBean.email}">
<f:validator validatorId="emailValidator"/>
</h:inputText>
Any command-line input and output is written as follows:
chmod +x ./filename.sh
New terms and important words are introduced in a bold-type font. Words that you see on the screen, in menus or dialog boxes for example, appear in our text like this: " At this point JSF navigation "kicks-in", and we are taken to the Confirmation Page."
Note
Tips and tricks appear like this.
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