In Chapter 1 we give an introduction to, and take a look behind the ZK framework. In the last section of this chapter, we show some important issues from the ZK User Interface Language (ZUML).

In Chapter 2 we will implement a CRUD (Create—Read—Update—Delete) application. We will also design and implement the pages with the ZK framework.

At the beginning of Chapter 3, we start with a simple CRUD application. The first thing we do here is to add some AJAX features to the application (live data). Here, we will learn many cornerstones provided by the ZK framework, and that we only have to implement some interfaces to use these features. We will move the application from a mixed code approach to a Model-View-Controller Architecture.

Chapter 4 deals with the end of the third phase in the development of a CRUD application with the AJAX ZK framework. We start with a simple application, and extend it step by step. The application now has many features that you will need in other applications as well.

Chapter 5 introduces the advantages and disadvantages of ZK. Then we will see how to integrate ZK with the Spring Framework and also why it is useful to do so. We will then move on to Hibernate and JasperReport.

In Chapter 6 we will learn how to customize existing components. We have the ability to use styles that we know from HTML to change the layout of the components. Additionally we will see that it is possibile to build new components (macro components) on the basis of existing components. And, last but not least, in the last section of this chapter we will learn how to create a complete custom component that is based on a .dsp file.

Chapter 7 introduces zk-bench. Zk-bench is a very useful tool and it supports much more than just designing ZUL pages. It simplifies the development of web applications a lot and it's build around the ZK framework.

The Appendix A contains information about the configuration files, which are important in the context of a ZK application. You should use this appendix in conjunction with Chapter 1 to get a better understanding of how to configure your ZK application.

The following is the list of software that you need to install and configure in order to start working with ZK:

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.

There are three styles for code. Code words in text are shown as follows: "In the sample there is a class InitSample in a package sample used."

A block of code will be set as follows:

<zscript><!
[CDATA[
import sample.InitSample;
]]>
</zscript>

When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items will be made bold:

if (event.getValue().length() > 0 && event.getValue().trim()
.length() > 0)
{
buttonToSayHello.setVisible(true);
}
else
{
buttonToSayHello.setVisible(false);
}

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: "When the user clicks on the button Start the thread, the thread starts doing the work asynchronously".

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