Bert, I know you're asking for materials that "aren't just tutorial but also
design and case study", but since others have asked about the general
transition from ASP (or CF, PHP, Perl, etc.) to servlets/JSP, here are some
thoughts that cover a little of all three. Folks really do need to learn
quite a lot to be truly effective: Java, as a base, for sure, and of course
J2EE (servlets, JSP's and EJB's, at least) in general.
A big challenge, I find, is that the beginning Java books often focus on
teaching client-side Java for a substantial percentage of the book. While
books like Core Java 2 and Beginning Java 2 are highly commended and rightly
so, they have upwards of 40% or more on applets, swing, awt, etc. It's not a
bad thing, but it reflects an old mentality that "surely anyone who wants to
learn java wants to build applets and client applications", which of course
folks making the server-side transition may not. Thinking in Java, to its
credit, devotes only a single chapter each to client- and server-side
development, being especially solid at the core of java without a focus on
either "side" of the platform.
On the other hand, most J2EE-level books not only presume you already know
java but they're generally focused on teaching web app development to those
experienced java programmers. As such, not only must you know Java to really
get into the books, but you have to weed through some web app development
info you may already know--or bear with the author's potential newness to
web app development (I find a lot of J2EE books fail to suggest or
demonstrate such simple things as JavaScript, for instance. OK, so one can
learn it elsewhere, but someone needs to lead those using J2EE as their
first web app platform to appreciate why it's worth doing).
Then there's the whole debate over EJBs (should you, shouldn't you),
understanding the difference between javabeans and EJBs, weeding through
books that discuss javabeans for their use in client-side development only,
etc.
Among the more popular resources for server-side development are Core
Servlets and JSP, Professional Java Server Programming J2EE Ed., O'Reilly's
Enterprise JavaBeans, and others. Of course, Sun has its J2EE tutorial
(http://java.sun.com/j2ee/tutorial/index.html), the J2EE Blueprints, and
many other resources.
At least, in the case of a real walkthrough, the Java Pet Store example from
Sun is a reasonably complete application and the BluePrints book (online and
in print as "Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition BluePrints") walks one
through it and the solutions employed in it. See
http://java.sun.com/j2ee/blueprints/ for these and lots more.
On another tack, if those making the move to servlets/JSP are also new to
object-oriented programming and design (haven't had C++, SmallTalk, or
similar experience), that's another whole level of complexity to be
understood (and effectively used). For this, I'd strongly recommend Jacquie
Barker's "Beginning Java Objects" (Wrox). While some may argue against it as
a first java book, I think for the right audience it's great for just that.
And this audience may be especially well-suited to its approach. I found no
other book did as good a job at putting OO (programming AND design AND
implementation--and even UML and more) all into perspective.
Then, there's the whole matter of patterns. You won't get far before
discussions of "observers", "proxies", "factories", "facades" and lots more
start cropping up. Of course, the seminal work is "Design Patterns" from
Gamma, et al (with its distinct C++ focus, though still foundational for all
OO programmers), and one of its co-authors wrote "Pattern Hatching". There
are still other books that lead one through use of design patterns in Java.
Then there are still more "architecture patterns", including J2EE patterns
covered in a book ("Core J2EE Patterns") and a sun site
(http://java.sun.com/j2ee/blueprints/design_patterns/index.html).
There's clearly a need in the market for something to address the audience
of folks making the transition from other server-side scripting languages to
JSP/Servlets, etc, especially if they're also new to Java. For now, you have
to pick and choose.
On the training front, Macromedia's recognized this need with their split of
the former "servlets, jsp and java" class into a new "java for web
developers" class focused on just the kind of core java needed to get
started, then offering "fasttrack to jsp" to cover JSP basics, and a coming
"Building j2ee applications with JRun" class (still in the works) to get
more into JDBC, servlets, javabeans, EJBs, and more.
Then there are sites like jspinsider.com, jguru.com, theserverside.com, and
others, as well as magazines like Java Developers Journal, Java Pro, and
Java Report.
I'm sure others will have still more suggested resources, and I'd certainly
welcome their feedback if any on those mentioned here.
/charlie
-----Original Message-----
From: Bert [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2001 3:08 AM
To: JRun-Talk
Subject: Re: Learning path
As a Asp developer making the transition to Java ,Java beans and Jsp where
would anyone suggest his or her learning path be any sites out there not
just to get up to speed or tutorials but to design a site or case study
using Jsp,Java and Xml etc?
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