xiii A. Hayden Lindsey IBM Distinguished Engineer and Director, Studio Tools Foreword

Transcription

1 Foreword Business applications are increasingly leveraging Web technologies. Naturally this is true for Internet applications, but it is also true for intranet and extranet applications applications that are integral to the operation of more and more businesses. Additionally, the use of Web technologies for business applications is applicable to businesses of all sizes, from the largest worldwide enterprises to the smallest local businesses. These applications typically have user interfaces that are presented within a browser, application logic that runs within a Web application server, and enterprise services and data access on their own dedicated systems. Thus, the Web application server plays the role of both business logic server and the middle-tier integration platform for the more complex system deployments. The growth of this style of application can be attributed to many factors, not the least of which is the ubiquity of the Web browser and the openness and standards that have emerged around these Web technologies, enabling interoperability of both tools and runtimes. As the demand for more Web applications increases, there is more pressure on IT departments, independent software vendors (ISVs) and system integrators (SIs) to leverage their existing teams of application programmers to build these Web applications. In many cases, these programmers have excellent domain knowledge awareness of their particular industry and their company s policies and processes. However, these programmers often are not thoroughly versed in the new Web technologies such as JavaServer Pages (JSPs), servlets, and Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs). This has created both a challenge and an opportunity for software tool vendors such as IBM: Help far more application programmers exploit the latest and greatest technologies and runtime capabilities without requiring vast amounts of new skills and the associated training costs. IBM has historically offered software development tools that support creation of business applications in a variety of languages and for a variety of platforms. However, until recently, our focus was primarily on the needs of the larger enterprises. This has changed in the last few years, and in 2002 we began delivering the Express line of products. These

2 xii Foreword products offer improved packaging and install options that make them more appropriate for use by the small and medium business (SMB) segment of the market. One of the first such offerings was WebSphere Application Server - Express, which is a convenient packaging of both a streamlined Web application server and a tool for building Web applications. When sold by itself, the tool is WebSphere Studio Site Developer (WSSD). WSSD is built on top of the Eclipse open-source tools platform, adding support for HTML, JSP, XML, Web Services, data access, Java, a visual user interface builder, template wizards, and all the other things one might need when building a Web application. When combined with the simplified version of the industry-leading WebSphere Application Server, the WebSphere Application Server - Express (Express) package enables many SMB companies, the ISVs and Sis that support them, and departments within larger enterprises to quickly exploit the many powerful Web technologies available today. Very recently, IBM made a huge improvement with Express 5.1, which includes WSSD In this latest version of the package, many new rapid application development features have been added that exploit the latest advances in Web technologies, such as JavaServer Faces and Service Data Objects, while at the same time dramatically simplifying the tool experience. In fact, the application programmer can create Web applications with attractive user interfaces that access and manipulate relational data sources and Web services without writing any Java code. Default user interfaces are created automatically, as are the bindings between the user interface controls, event scripts that one can choose to write, and the underlying databases or Web services. Naturally, the wizards and the visual and declarative development tools will not be sufficient for all development projects. In those cases, because WSSD also includes tools for creating, debugging, and deploying the standard Web artifacts, all the power you need is available for going as deep into the technology as required. In this book, Bob Cancilla explains the key technologies used when building Web applications, and then he describes the best-practice methods for using the tools in order to build the various portions of a Web application. Throughout Part II of the book, Bob uses an example Web application as the basis for teaching the best practices and the tool usage. This technique was facilitated by an interesting partnership between Bob and Kevin Postreich from the IBM Software Group laboratory in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. As Bob wrote, Kevin coded. This practice ensured that the examples really worked in all aspects. Additionally, and very importantly to those of us responsible for tools in IBM, it provided a great opportunity for us to see our tools and runtime from a different perspective that of the instructor. As a result of this partnership, not only do you, the reader, have a book with a thoroughly tested sample, but you also now have an improved product! So, thanks to Bob for this practical and helpful new book about Express and for his willingness to partner with us at IBM. Thanks to Kevin for the countless hours spent ensuring

3 Foreword xiii that the samples worked and for feeding requirements back into the appropriate development teams. I hope you, the reader, find this book and the WAS - Express package valuable, and we look forward to hearing your feedback on what you like and how we can do even better in the future. A. Hayden Lindsey IBM Distinguished Engineer and Director, Studio Tools

4

5 Preface This book introduces you to WebSphere Application Server - Express. This book is an example of IBM s partnership with its customers. I bring a customer s perspective to this book, but I am backed up by the incredible team of IBM technical experts that developed this product. Part I, What Is WebSphere Application Server - Express, provides the background, features, and concepts. This part of the book has been reviewed and edited by some of the leading experts in the industry. A team of expert developers, with whom I am privileged to have had the opportunity of working on this project, coauthored Part II, Developing A Commercial Web Site. The focus of this book is on building, integrating, and deploying business applications. Solving business problems with technology-based solutions is what WebSphere means to me. I hope this book will help share the vision and embrace this incredible path from today into the future. Together it is our goal to demonstrate the business value of WebSphere technologies in enterprises of every size. We hope to demonstrate that any company, regardless of how small, may develop state-of-the-art Internet applications and integrate their work with additional software acquired from a diverse range of sources. Today, the role of the IT organization is changing. Where we would once depend on programmers to build our systems, or we would buy complete business application solutions from a software vendor, we can now integrate a variety of solutions from many sources. The modern IT developer is first and foremost an integrator. Every company wants a system that fits its unique business requirements. This is the goal of WebSphere software. The days of buying a complete system for enterprise resource planning (ERP), manufacturing, retail, and so forth and squeezing your company into a vendor s idea of how your business system should operate are past. Today we can build, buy, and integrate a solution that fits

6 xvi Preface the needs of our businesses. We can buy business components where the expertise and solution are a good fit. Some of these components are large, some very small. However, using WebSphere-based technology; all components become part of our system. The Web browser is rapidly becoming the user interface of choice in many organizations, and we are seeing a move away from traditional client/server applications back to a servercentric, Web-based solution. Web-based server-centric solutions are the lowest-cost high-function business systems solution of choice today. Web-based server-centric systems dramatically reduce (and often eliminate) the administrative costs associated with creating, acquiring, deploying, and managing a client-server system with much of the software installed on the user s desktop computer. Products like WebSphere Application Server - Express not only enable you to provide your own employees with a modern, cost-effective user interface; they leverage your relationships with your customers and business partners in a seamless, borderless international computing partnership. WebSphere Application Server - Express is the first step in embracing the world of Internet-based computing. WebSphere Application Server - Express is a low-cost, easy-touse entry point into the WebSphere family of products. You can rapidly build a robust commercial Web site with limited budget and equipment. You can grow as large and complex as your requirements dictate. The World Wide Web, with its browser-based interface, is the key to modern computing. In less than eight years, the Web and the Web browser have become an indispensable household tool. Everyone can use the Web. There are no age barriers, no cultural or ethnic barriers to the World Wide Web. WebSphere Application Server - Express is your gateway to the Web. Bob Cancilla

7 Introduction This book is designed for you, the person who wants to develop a dynamic Web site and interactive Web applications that leverage your company s data. You do not need to be a Java programmer. You will be pleasantly surprised at how easy the tools are to use. You will quickly see that you or a member of your staff will be able to do all the basics of building a sophisticated Web application. WebSphere Application Server - Express and its development tools are designed to enable business people to build and implement sophisticated, interactive Web sites without a great deal of technical knowledge or programming expertise. A person with some knowledge of HTML, JavaScript, and a Web development product such as Dreamweaver, Microsoft FrontPage, or Microsoft Office can easily follow the examples in this book and learn to build robust, interactive Web sites. This book includes a realistic sample Web site that is based on real business requirements. The Xpres Books sample application addresses many different types of users and illustrates a broad range of solutions found in a typical business. The problems that are addressed by this Web site provide a direct reduction in a company s operating costs and increases customer satisfaction. The book is divided into two parts. Part I is an introduction to the technology of WebSphere Application Server- Express and the WebSphere Studio Site Developer tools used to build the applications. We also include a basic methodology for designing and building your Web site and provide a comparison to alternative technologies. Part I is suitable for a

8 2 Introduction decision maker who must understand the business value proposition of WebSphere Application Server - Express. Part II guides you from requirements though development and implementation of a highly functional business Web site. It touches on security and interactive Web pages and forms as well as a number of Web query and reporting applications supporting a customer self-service solution. We also include a simple shopping cart application. For a customer new to WebSphere Application Server technology, this book is an excellent starting point to establishing a working relationship with an IBM Business Partner. A partner s expertise will expedite the company s path to dynamic Web site creation and maintenance. Although this book minimizes the requirements for technical knowledge, the learning curve can be reduced and a company s ability to take advantage of the technology rapidly can be greatly improved with a partnership between the company and an experienced, certified partner. Part II of this book is meant as a hands-on tutorial. We strongly recommend that you follow the instructions in Appendix B to download a trial copy of the product and work through the examples in Chapters 7 through 16. We have provided a CD image with all of the materials for each chapter in Part II so that you may work through the instructions in each chapter. We recommend that you work through each chapter and then apply the skills that you have learned to your own application. If you are like many of us, you will want to skip over the first section of the book and jump right into Part II. Be sure you read Appendix B, where we provide instructions for setting up the product and importing the materials you will need to work through the examples in each chapter. While we teach you to build Web sites using WebSphere Application Server - Express, this book is really about helping your company leverage the benefits e-business can bring to any company, large or small. Today, it is crazy not to put e-business into your business!