Introduction

The JavaServer Pages JSP 2.0 specification is one of the most exciting Java Community Process (JCP) releases of the year. Chances are you picked this book to learn more about the new features of JSP 2.0. Or you may be interested in using JSPs for the first time in your next project. Regardless of your interest, we've put together a book that tries to bring you up to speed fast.

The goal of JSP 2.0 has been to make it easier to create sophisticated, well-designed Web applications. We feel that the authors of the specification have achieved their goal. Working with databases or XML has never been simpler. Your applications can be functionally well-organized. You can create your own reusable components.

Because JSPs have become easier to use, we're able to put more into the 24 hours you'll spend reading this book. Each hour will introduce you to a topic and help you to understand it well enough to be able to do something useful with it. We've created hands-on tasks to make sure that you can exercise your new skills.

By the time you've finished the book, you'll feel comfortable using JavaServer Pages and servlets to create Web applications. You will also have been introduced to the important features of JSP 2.0 and to complimentary technologies such as Struts and JavaServer Faces. And you will have learned about debugging, internationalization, security, and performance.