Jython for Java Programmers

This book will help Java developers to increase application development and deployment, thus optimizing their overall efficiency.

A brief introduction is provided that shows the differences between Java and Jython, important to include so that the reader will have a better understanding of why their union is beneficial.

The remainder of the book teaches, through examples, how to use Jython. Intended for an experienced Java developer, this book assumes you understand the fundamentals to programming (i.e. loop statements, if.then, etc.). So, page space is focused on utilizing Jython with Java by covering the following: extending Python with java classes, modules, compiling, interpreters, design integration, etc.

www.newriders.com contains all code and applications developed in the book.

Chapter 12: Server-Side Web Programming

Where does Jython fit into web development? The answer is wherever Java fits. Jython especially fits those Java venues where people desire faster development and increased flexibility. Server-side Java web programming is primarily implemented as Servlets and Java Server Pages (JSP); therefore, Jython's primary implementation is Servlets and JSP. This isn't the entire story. Java's enterprise packages (j2ee) figures prominently in developing web applications. EJB's, JNDI, JDBC and more are integral to most Java web applications, and Jython is equally effective with all those technologies; however, the primary focus of this chapter is Servlets and JSP.

There are also places where Jython does not fit. CPython is a very popular language for implementing CGI scripts, but Jython is not. In CGI, a web server receives a request, starts a process to respond, and shuts down that sub-process when the response is completed. It is possible to use Jython in this manner, but it is not a good way. The startup time of the JVM itself makes this a poor choice. Servlets and JSP on the other hand, are persistent—they remain in memory between web requests.

There are many advantages to using Jython for web programming. High-quality Servlet containers are readily available and near ubiquitously deployed. Java Servlet applications can benefit from Jython's flexibility and high-level language characteristics, and you get to leverage all that Java's and Jython's libraries have to offer. Some of the many quality Servlet containers include WebLogic, WebSphere, Tomcat, Jigsaw, Resin, and Jetty. The number of organizations that have deployed such containers is astounding, which makes Jython immediately usable in a huge percentage of situations.

What you can expect in this chapter is Servlets and JSP written with Jython. The basic topics include setting up a Servlet container, the basic Servlet classes, implementing cookies, sessions and database connections, and using Jython with JSP pages. The slightly more advanced topic of creating your own Jython Servlet mappings appears after the basics. Implementation-specific topics appear toward the end of this chapter, and they include topics such as templates, XML, Cocoon, IBM's Bean Scripting Framework, and Enterprise Java Beans.

Jython Servlet Containers

Jython works with any compliant Java Servlet container, and there are a great many of these from which to choose. This chapter uses Tomcat, which is the reference implementation of the Servlet and Java Server Page specifications. Some of the popular and freely available Servlet containers are Tomcat from Apache's Jakarta project, Apache's JServ, the Jigsaw web server from the W3C and Jetty from Mort Bay Consulting. Following is a brief description of each of these tools.

Jakarta's Tomcat is the reference implementation of the Servlet and Java Server Pages specifications, and the server used in this chapter. Tomcat is available at http://jakarta.apache.org/ and the stable release version as of the writing of this chapter is 3.2.3. This version of Tomcat supports the 2.2 Servlet and 1.1 JSP specifications. By the time you read this, Tomcat 4.0 will have been released, which implements the 2.3 Servlet and 1.2 JSP specifications. All Jython Servlets in this chapter were tested with Tomcat 3.2.3. All examples should work with any Servlet 2.2/JSP 1.1-compliant container available according to Sun's "Write Once, Run Anywhere" motto. The Tomcat distribution includes the Servlet and JSP classes that are required for this chapter, so there are no additional downloads required.

Apache JServ is a Servlet (version 2.0) engine created for Apache and is commonly deployed. This is an easy means of using Servlets with Jython and may be a good choice if your current development already employs JServ as many do. Information about Apache and JServ can be found at http://java.apache.org/. JServ requires the accompanying Java Servlet Development Kit 2.0 available separately at http://java.sun.com/products/

servlet/index.html. Java Server Pages require an external module that is currently located at http://java.apache.org/jserv/.

Jigsaw is the W3C's experimental web server. The term "experimental" may be misleading because it is more mature than that label indicates. Jigsaw is a fully HTTP/1.1-compliant web server and caching proxy server written entirely in Java. Jigsaw also supports the Servlet 2.2 specification and Java Server Pages 1.1. Jigsaw is available at http://www.w3.org/Jigsaw/ and includes the required Servlet and JSP files.

Jetty is a compact and efficient Java web server that supports the Servlet 2.2 and JSP 1.1 specifications, supports HTTP 1.1, includes SSL support, and easily integrates with EJB servers such as JBoss. Jetty is available at http://jetty.mortbay.com/.

The documentation for these tools is extensive, so installation guidelines for these should be gleaned from their respective web sites.

Applet Index
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The Java Source
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