Code Style: Anchor Points: Java servlets

Java newsgroups

The primary newsgroup for Java is comp.lang.java.programmer. As usual, lurk and read the FAQ first. For servlet related issues watch out for regular posters Simon Brooke, Phil Hanna and Jon Skeet, who is proposing a new group comp.lang.java.servlets to separate servlet related discussion.

Other Java groups which may be of interest include comp.lang.java.javascript, a low traffic alternative to comp.lang.javascript, and comp.lang.java.databases.

Java software and development tools

Java products and APIs provides links to all of Sun Microsystems' Java technology products, including the latest software development kits and APIs and tools for servlet and Java Server Pages development.

The Java Language Specification book is available online in HTML or PDF.

Apache Ant is an excellent Java build and deployment application that includes a handy HTML Ant manual

Java XML Parsers

Apache XML is the open source project's repository for the Xerces XML parser and Xalan XSLT processor and Cocoon servlet.
Sun Microsystems' Java XML Parser includes an extended set of Web Services development tools.
XML Parser for Java, or XML4J for short, is IBM Alphaworks' contribution to the Apache XML project.

Free Java tools

GNU Classpath is a Free Software Foundation project to develop a Java class library equivalent to the Sun Java 2 JDK, without proprietary licence constraints. The Classpath JavaDoc outlines the current state of the library. Check the Classpath Bugzilla interface for current issues and statistics.

Classpath is used in several free Java Virtual Machine implementations, but is co-developed with the GNU Compiler for Java (GCJ).

See The Java Trap for an explanation of the issues the GNU Java tools are designed to address.

Source code resources

Core servlets and Java Server Pages is the site which accompanies Marty Hall's book of the same name and includes source code for all examples and sample chapters.

Servlets.Com is the O'Reilly site which supports Java Servlet Programming by Jason Hunter and William Crawford. The site is well maintained and has links and examples of servlet applications from the book, and lots of links to further articles, resources, servlet hosts and discussion. Very comprehensive.

News and articles

Java World includes a broad range of general interest Java articles and resources with a strong emphasis on Web applications.

JSP Insider has articles, news and views on JSP, plus source code pointers, and links to further JSP resources.

XSL gives your XML some style by Michael Ball outlines how to generate HTML from XML on the fly with XSL using the Lotus version of Apache's Xalan XSLT processor.

Java tutorials

Sun Microsystems' Java Tutorial takes a topic based approach to the Java mind set, leading the reader through self contained learning "trails".
This beginners' tutorial Cat and mouse games with bits from Java Ranch introduces bits with examples of Java bitwise operators.
Roedy Green's glossary of the hashCode() method explains its purpose with examples and useful tips and guidance on using it in partnership with the equals(Object) method.
Sun's Fundamentals of Java Servlets gives a good overview of servlet technology with limited segments of example code.

Application servers

JBoss is an open source, pure Java implementation of a J2EE application server.
The Enhydra Application Server is also open source, designed to work with Apache Tomcat or Jetty servlet containers.

Java blogging applications

Pebble is a lightweight, feature-rich multi-blogging platform with its own plugin API and configurable security.
Blojsom is a fairly heavyweight, multi-blogging Web application with extensible template and plugin features configurable through a single installation.
Apache Roller is a multi-blogging Web application designed for Apache Tomcat with MySQL, but works with many other servlet containers and database servers.

FCK Editor is a rich text editor for blogs and other content management systems with a Java web application interface.

Java utility packages

Apache Commons Codec is an implementation of various encoding and decoding algorithms in a single package, including MD5, SHA, Base64 and URL-encoding.
An introductory article on Java password encryption from Evolt with examples.
Currency updates in J2SE 1.4 from Sun introduces the java.util.Currency class for formatting specific currencies according to locale.

Java servlet books

Core Servlets & Java Server Pages

Cover illustration of Core Servlets And Java Server Pages by Marty Hall

One of the two key tutorials on servlets and JSP. At first reading the chapters on HTTP status codes, request and response headers seem overly detailed, but these pages ultimately become an essential reference. Useful sample code and development tips throughout.