Dynamic Web Pages In Java: How To Create Web Pages In Java?
Dynamic websites are the order of the day. The main reason for this is the need to meet the demands of ever-changing content at a rapid pace. This article focuses on dynamic web pages in Java. The following points are covered in this article.
- Dynamic web pages in Java
- What is a web server?
- What is CGI?
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- What is a Servlet Container?
Let’s start with Dynamic Web Pages in Java Article
Reading: How to create a dynamic website using java
Dynamic Web Pages
Dynamic webpages are server-side webpages, every time they are viewed we see different content. They are controlled by the application server, which processes server-side scripts. Dynamic websites can also change their content at the customer’s request. You have the ability to generate new content based on time and need. Which simply means that dynamic websites are never the same for all users.
We are all aware of the need for dynamic websites in everyday life.
The best example of dynamic website that we always see is Captcha.
The main difference between static and dynamic web pages is that the static web page stays the same for any client or user while the dynamic web page changes based on the time and user’s requirement.
Servlets
In Java, a servlet is a way to create these dynamic web pages. Servlets are nothing more than the Java programs. In Java, a servlet is a type of Java class that runs server-side on JVM (Java Virtual Machine). Java servlets work on the server side. Java servlets are capable of handling large and complex problems and user requests.
Let’s continue with dynamic web pages in Java
What is a web server?
A web server is used to transmit data in the form of the HTTP protocol. The client only has to enter the URL in a browser and the web server provides the desired web page for him to read. So how does it work? What does a web server do inside?
The web server converts the URL entered by the client into the HTTP protocol to respond to the request and uses servlets to serve the client’s request.
Servlet properties
- Servlets work on server-side extensions to handle the complex problems.
- Servlets cover all the limitations of CGI.
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Let’s move on to the next topic of this article about websites in Java:
What is CGI?
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CGI (Common Gateway Interface), is an application used to generate dynamic content of web pages. A common gateway interface can be created using any programming language such as c, c++, etc.
While using CGI, the web server sequentially performs the following tasks when the client requests something: –
- It receives the request and the required CGI.
- Creates a new process and invokes the required CGI application.
- CGI generates the output and after getting the information of the client’s request.
- It sends the output (response) to the web server and destroys the process.
- The web server shows it the client’s screen.
In CIG, a new process must be created and destroyed for each request, as the number of clients increases, the workload also increases and therefore less power and time for the Processing requests are also increasing because CGI cannot communicate directly with the web server. To overcome its limitations, servlets are introduced.
Servlets are cheaper than CGI and can handle cookies. The Java servlet follows a simple process shown in the following block diagram:-
Steps
- A client sends the request to a web server .
- The web server receives the request from the client.
- Servlets receive the request.
- Servlets receive the request.
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- Servlets process the request and generate the output.
- Servlet sends the output to the web server.
- A web server sends it to the client’s browser and the browser displays it on the client’s screen.
There are two packages that can be used to build servlets
- javax.servlet(Basic)
- javax. servlet.http(Advance)
Advantages of Servlets
- They are platform independent.
- They are cheaper than CGI.
- You can handle cookies.
- They overcome the limitations of CGI.
- NO need to create a new process for each request.
- Since it is a server-side application, it can inherit the security of a web server.
Let’s move to the next topic of this article on web pages in Java,
What is a servlet container
Users didn’t have the option to request and access the static pages, but also dynamic ones, with dynamic web pages each time for different inputs and may work differently over time.
A servlet container is nothing but a concept or idea to use the
Java language to build dynamic web pages (servlet ) to develop.
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The servlet container is a part of the web server that can easily communicate with the Java servlets.
There are three main methods that can be called by the client as needed:-
- Init()
- Service()
- Destroy()
Web pages in Java Our first servlet program
To be developed at our first servlet application follows three steps
First we need to create an HTML page that will require a request from the servlet.
First servlet program This page will only have one Invoke MyFirstServlet button. Clicking this button calls MyFirstServlet. Now let’s create a servlet in which we will implement three methods:-
- Init()
- Service()
- Destroy( )
Import javax,servlet. *; import java.io.*; The public class OurFirstServlet implements Servlet{ ServletConfig config=null; Public void init(ServletConfig sc) { Config = sc; System.out.println(“in init”); } public void service (ServletRequest req, ServletResponse res) throws ServletException, IOException { res.setContenttype(“text/html”); PrintWriter pw = res.getWriter(); pw.println(“
Hello from servlet
“); System.out.println(“in operation”); maintained } public String getServletInfo() { return “MyFirstServlet”; } public ServletConfig getServletConfig() { return config; }
In lines 1 and 2 we import two packages, the second one is for PrintWriter.
In line 3 we create a servlet by implementing a servlet interface.
In the first line within a class, we create a ServletConfig object configuration that contains the configuration of the servlet. Initially it is set to null because there is no servlet.
Then we created an init method that accepts an object of type ServletConfig sc . This is called when a request comes to the servlet. This is used to initialize the configuration object.
There is a Destroy() that is used to mark the end of the servlet.
The getServletInfo() is used to return the name of the Servlet
The getServletConfig returns the Config object when invoked.
Finally , after a request has come, creates two objects of type ServletRequest and ServletResponse to mark their connection with the client and pass them to service(). Here we set the response type of our ServletResponse object to HTML type. Then we get the PrintWriter object pw from the response object res by calling getWriter(). Finally, we use println() of the pw object to write what we need to print as a response to the client.
This brings us to the end of this article on “Web Pages in Java”. If you want to learn more, take the Java Certification Course from Edureka, a trusted online learning company. Edureka’s Java J2EE and SOA Training and Certification course is designed to train you on both basic and advanced Java concepts along with various Java frameworks such as Hibernate and Spring.
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