PRE-WORKSHOP

Introduction to Java Server Pages (JSP): Building  Interactive, Database-Driven Web Applications

 

Sharon E. Dennis, MS, Eccles Health Sciences Library, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

 

Half Day, Hands-on PCs

 

Prerequisites: Intermediate knowledge of HTML is REQUIRED.  Class limited to 12; you should have experience hand-coding HTML pages and understand the code, even if you have used a WYSIWYG editor.  You should be able to code an HTML form or to quickly pick up on the coding; forms coding will be assumed and not explained in detail.  Some experience with a scripting or programming language such as VBScript, Java, or JavaScript is recommended, but not necessary.  Participants should expect to spend time typing and debugging programming code during the class.

 

ABSTRACT:

Tired of editing static Web pages?  Are you interested in adding more interactivity to your educational Web sites?  Using a server side, Java-based technology called Java Server Pages (JSP), you can build interactive, dynamic, database-driven Web applications.  This makes updating and maintaining your content much easier and less time consuming than manually editing static pages, so your content stays "fresh" and interesting for your students.  Learn how to move from creating Web "pages" to creating Web "applications."

 

Participants in this hands-on workshop will learn:

•Introductory concepts: how building a Web application is different from building Web pages; software architecture recommendations to build a "three-tier" application in order to maximize productivity.

•What software is necessary to build and serve JSPs and Java servlets; how you can set up an open source, freely available Java Server Pages application server (Tomcat) very quickly.

•Introductory database concepts: how to create, edit, and retrieve information from a simple database.

•How to display information from the database in a Web page.

•How to allow the user to search the database using a variety of criteria and retrieve a result set from the database.

•How to set up a login script so that users must log in to the application.

•How to track and store user responses on the server.

•How to find and utilize existing JSP scripts and Java servlets available for free download on the Web.

 

BENEFIT TO PARTICIPANTS ATTENDING SESSION:

Participants will learn enough basic concepts to be able to create a simple interactive, database-driven Web application for delivering educational content.  They will learn how to structure the Web application using ”ideal" software architecture.  They will learn what options are available for setting up a Java server at no cost.  In addition, they will learn how to find resources on the Web to help them create more complicated Web applications.

 

Sharon E. Dennis, MS

University of Utah Health Sciences Center Spencer S. Eccles Health Sciences Library 10 North 1900 East

Salt Lake City, UT 84112

Phone: 801-585-3928

Fax: 801-581-3632

Email: mailto:sdennis@lib.med.utah.edu

Website: http://library.med.utah.edu/