This book is built around the objectives that Sun has published for the updated SCWCD exam. If you know everything that is covered by the objectives, you will pass the exam. The chapters in the book examine each objective in detail and explain everything you need to understand about web component development.
This book is for Java programmers who want to prepare for the SCWCD exam, which focuses on the Servlet and JavaServer Pages technologies. This book will also be very useful for beginners since we have explained the concepts using simple examples. The text will bring you up to speed even if you are totally new to these technologies. Even expert Servlet/JSP programmers should read the book to ensure that they do not overlook any exam objectives. However, since this book is a study guide, we do not try to cover advanced tricks and techniques for expert Servlet/JSP developers.
This book has three parts:
| Part | Topic | Chapters |
| 1 | The basics of web component development | 1 through 3 |
| 2 | The Servlet technology | 4 through 9 |
| 3 | The JavaServerPages (JSP) technology and design patterns | 10 through 18 |
For those of you new to web component development, we’ve included one introductory chapter each on Servlets and JavaServer Pages. The objectives of chapters 1 and 2 are to make you comfortable with this technology. They won’t make you an expert, but they’ll teach you enough so that you can understand the rest of the book. If you already have experience with the Servlet and JavaServerPages technologies, you can skip these two chapters. Since in practice servlets are written for HTTP, we have also included a brief discussion of the HTTP protocol and the basics of web applications in chapter 3. You should read this chapter even if you know the HTTP protocol.
Chapters 4 through 18 cover the exam objectives. Some chapters start with basic concepts that do not necessarily correspond to exam objectives but that are very important in order to understand the remaining sections. In the chapters, we illustrate the concepts with simple test programs. You should try to write and run the programs, and we encourage you to modify them and try out similar examples. From our experience, we’ve seen that people tend to understand and remember the concepts a lot better if they actually put them in code and see them in action.
There are four appendices. Appendix A will help you set up Tomcat. Appendix B contains a sample web.xml file that illustrates the use of various deployment descriptor tags. Appendix C contains the answers to each chapter’s review questions. In appendix D, you will find the Quick Prep, a summary of key concepts and helpful tips that you can review as part of your last-minute exam preparations.
After the introductory chapters in part 1, each chapter begins with a list of the exam objectives that are discussed within it, along with the chapter sections in which each objective is addressed. In some of the chapters, the order of the objectives departs slightly from the original Sun numbering to better correspond to the way the topics within the chapters have been organized.
As you read through the chapters, you will encounter Quizlets about the material you have just read. Try to answer the Quizlet without looking at the answer; if you are correct, you can feel confident that you have understood the concepts.
At the end of each chapter, you will find review questions that will help you to evaluate your ability to answer the exam questions related to the objectives for the chapter. The answers to these questions are in appendix C.
Italic typeface is used to introduce new terms.
Courier typeface is used to denote code samples, as well as elements and attributes, method names, classes, interfaces, and other identifiers.
Bold courier is used to denote important parts of the code samples.
Code annotations accompany many segments of code.
Line continuations are indented.
Source code for all the programming examples in this book is available for download from the publisher’s web site, http://www.manning.com/deshmukh2. Any corrections to code will be updated on an ongoing basis.
Also available for download is the abbreviated version of the JWebPlus exam simulator which contains a practice exam. Please go to http://www.manning.com/deshmukh2 to download the exam simulator and follow the instructions that accompany the file.
System requirements for JWebPlus are:
Purchase of the SCWCD Exam Study Kit Second Edition includes free access to a private web forum run by Manning Publications, where you can make comments about the book, ask technical questions, and receive help from the authors and from other users. To access the forum and subscribe to it, point your web browser to http://www.manning.com/deshmukh2. This page provides information on how to get on the forum once you are registered, what kind of help is available, and the rules of conduct on the forum.
Manning’s commitment to our readers is to provide a venue where a meaningful dialogue between individual readers and between readers and the authors can take place. It is not a commitment to any specific amount of participation on the part of the authors, whose contribution to the AO remains voluntary (and unpaid).
The Author Online forum and the archives of previous discussions will be accessible from the publisher’s web site as long as the book is in print.
You can also reach the authors through their web site at http://www.jdiscuss.com, where they maintain forums for the discussion of Java topics, especially those related to the Sun exams. Additionally, the web site contains material that you will find useful in your preparation for the exam, such as information about books, tutorials, free and commercial practice exams, and study notes. The site will continue to be updated with exciting new resources as they become available.