3. 6 Summary
What are custom tags? Why use them?
Custom tags are unique JSP compo-nents
that make it easy to integrate
portions of Java logic into a JSP file in
an easy-to-use, well-recognized for-mat.
Custom tags also answer to well-known
API and life cycle definitions
(to be discussed in chapter 4) that
make it clear how tags behave in any
development or runtime environment.
Why use custom tags? Custom tags
represent a great way to separate the
business logic and presentation, thus
enhancing manageability and reducing overall maintenance costs. Another benefit is
their ease of use. By using tag syntax, many of the scriptlets and other portions of
Java code associated with the classic JSP programming are no longer needed, and the JSP
development can be opened to content (commonly, HTML) developers.
We also discussed the mechanics related to tag development, and saw that it is
not so difficult to develop simple, but useful, tags.
This chapter provided a solid foundation for you to start developing custom JSP
tags. It presented four important tools that you will use in your daily tag development:
- How to configure a simple (and free) development environment with which
you can compile and test your tags. .
- How to develop, compile, and test simple tags using this development
environment.
- How to write a TLD file to describe your tag's runtime behavior and attributes. .
- How to package your tag library in a distributable .jar file.
If you have a lot of questions at this point, that's good. We've only lightly touched
on many of the nuances of tag development in order to help you get started right
away. In the next chapters, we will dive in and explore more fully each of the topics
presented here.
Stop by in one week for the next installment!
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