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JavaServer Faces in Action Kito D. Mann 2004 | 744 pages ISBN: 1932394125 |
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$49.95 | Softbound print book | |
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$25.00 | PDF ebook | |
Foreword
As I write this foreword, I am collaborating with four leading user interface (UI) component vendors on a presentation for the 2004 JavaOneSM conference. In our presentation, the vendors will show how they leverage JavaServerTM Faces technology in their products. While developing the presentation, I am learning some things about the work we’ve been doing on JavaServer Faces for the past three years. The vendors have their own set of concerns unique to adapting their product for JavaServer Faces, but they all voice one opinion loud and clear: they are very relieved to finally have a standard for web-based user interfaces.
The absence of a standard for web-based UIs forced these component vendors to write special case code for every integrated development environment (IDE) into which they wanted to plug. Now that we have the JavaServer Faces standard, any IDE can declare compliance to that standard, and any vendor that also complies with the standard can plug components into the IDE with much less work. Of course, this means that any components you develop will also be able to plug into tools without too much additional work.
The JavaServer Faces specification was developed by a community of leading minds in the field of web UI development. We took the best ideas from many different approaches to UI frameworks and assembled them into one coherent whole. The trouble with standards is that they get rather complex in order to solve the problems they are addressing. For JavaServer Faces, that problem is providing an easy-to-use UI framework built on top of a collection of technologies not well suited to UIs at all. This has led to a particularly complex specification to implement. Thankfully, the number of people actually implementing the spec is relatively small compared to those using those implementations, but as it turns out, knowing the specification in detail is still helpful in order to use it.
As a member of the expert group developing the next version of JavaServer Pages, Kito is no stranger to technology standards. Kito grasps the key value-adds of JavaServer Faces and has explained them in a book that is accessible and in-depth. You will see what sets JavaServer Faces apart from other web UI frameworks, including its first-class component model, its well-defined state management system, and its conceptual similarity to JavaBeans. Kito is familiar with the abstractions being used by the specification, and, more important, he understands why we used those abstractions. Understanding the why of the specification leads to a superior explanation for you, the reader. For example, look at the “relationship of concepts” diagram in chapter 2. This is a great way to understand the rationale for the design of JavaServer Faces.
Kito also understands the marketplace into which this technology fits. This means you get the most important information first, so you can get your job done quickly and completely. He spends just enough time building a firm foundation of the technology underlying JavaServer Faces, making the book ideal for getting started from scratch.
Finally, the book has all the things you’ve come to expect from a top-quality software technology book: a descriptive table of contents that can serve as a framework for understanding, chapter goals and summaries to save you time, and lots of working examples that you can use in your own projects. One thing I’ve seen in this book that I haven’t seen in others is an in-depth look at the currently shipping IDEs that support JavaServer Faces. This is especially valuable because such tools can save you time, once you understand the underlying technology they support.
In addition to the unique insight this book offers on shipping IDEs, Kito brings to bear his experience as the principal of JSFCentral.com to inform the entire book. This site is a high-quality aggregation of articles, interviews, and, most important, an up-to-the-minute picture of the state of industry and community offerings related to JavaServer Faces. Kito has separate sections that cover components, render kits, implementations, and more. I think you’ll find this site—and this book—extremely valuable as you explore JavaServer Faces programming.
ED BURNS
JavaServer Faces Specification Lead
DESCRIPTION
ONLINE BONUS!Exclusive to the owners of this book: free online access to over 300 additional pages of substantial content. That's over 1,000 pages of JavaServer Faces in Action! To download the Online Extension, click on the link to the left. The ebook includes both the print edition AND the online extension. |
JavaServer Faces helps streamline your web development through the use of UI components and events (instead of HTTP requests and responses). JSF components (buttons, text boxes, checkboxes, data grids, etc.) live between user requests, which eliminates the hassle of maintaining state. JSF also synchronizes user input with application objects, automating another tedious aspect of web development.
JavaServer Faces in Action is an introduction, a tutorial, and a handy reference. With the help of many examples, the book explains what JSF is, how it works, and how it relates to other frameworks and technologies like Struts, Servlets, Portlets, JSP, and JSTL. It provides detailed coverage of standard components, renderers, converters, and validators, and how to use them to create solid applications. This book will help you start building JSF solutions today.
What's Inside
How to- Use JSF widgets
- Integrate with Struts and existing apps
- Benefit from JSF tools by Oracle, IBM, and Sun
- Build custom components and renderers
- Build converters and validators
- Put it all together in a JSF application
WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY ABOUT THIS BOOK...
"can't wait to make it available to the people I teach."
- Sang Shin, Sun Microsystems Inc.
"This book unlocks the full power of JSF ... It’s a necessity."
- Jonas Jacobi, Oracle
"... explains advanced topics in detail. Well-written and a quick read."
- Matthew Schmidt, Javalobby
"... by a programmer who knows what programmers need."
- Alex Kolundzija, Columbia House
"A great reference and tutorial!"
- Mike Nash, JSF Expert Group Member
WHAT THE READERS SAY ABOUT THIS BOOK...
"I'm new to JSF and Java but this book has been a great help.
I was searching all over the net to get info on JSF and really
didn't find documentation that cleared everything up...
Well, your book did ! I love the way it's structured, taking the
reader one step at a time into the world of JSF and explaining
WHY and HOW things are done."
-- Ben
Kito,
I purchased your JSF In Action ebook from Manning and am so far loving it...
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