Prentice Hall and Sun Microsystems. Personal use only; do not redistribute.

1.4 The Advantages of JSP

11

extensive API for networking, database access, distributed objects, and the like,

whereas PHP requires learning an entirely new language.

Versus Pure Servlets

JSP doesn't provide any capabilities that couldn't in principle be accom 

plished with a servlet. In fact, JSP documents are automatically translated

into servlets behind the scenes. But it is more convenient to write (and to

modify!) regular HTML than to have a zillion 

println

 statements that gen 

erate the HTML. Plus, by separating the presentation from the content, you

can put different people on different tasks: your Web page design experts can

build the HTML using familiar tools and leave places for your servlet pro 

grammers to insert the dynamic content. 

Versus Server Side Includes (SSI)

SSI is a widely supported technology for inserting externally defined pieces

into a static Web page. JSP is better because you have a richer set of tools for

building that external piece and have more options regarding the stage of the

HTTP response at which the piece actually gets inserted. Besides, SSI is

really intended only for simple inclusions, not for  real  programs that use

form data, make database connections, and the like. 

Versus JavaScript

JavaScript, which is completely distinct from the Java programming language,

is normally used to generate HTML dynamically on the client, building parts

of the Web page as the browser loads the document. This is a useful capabil 

ity but only handles situations where the dynamic information is based on the

client's environment. With the exception of cookies, the HTTP request data

is not available to client side JavaScript routines. And, since JavaScript lacks

routines for network programming, JavaScript code on the client cannot

access server side resources like databases, catalogs, pricing information, and

the like. JavaScript can also be used on the server, most notably on Netscape

servers and as a scripting language for IIS. Java is far more powerful, flexible,

reliable, and portable.

Second edition of this book: www.coreservlets.com; Sequel: www.moreservlets.com.

Servlet and JSP training courses by book's author: courses.coreservlets.com.