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

24

Chapter 2 First Servlets

Compiling and Installing the Servlet

The first thing you need to do is to make sure that your server is configured

properly and that your 

CLASSPATH

 refers to the JAR files containing the stan 

dard servlet classes. Please refer to Section 1.5 (Installation and Setup) for an

explanation of this process.

The next step is to decide where to put the servlet classes. This location

varies from server to server, so refer to your Web server documentation for

definitive directions. However, there are some moderately common conven 

tions. Most servers have three distinct locations for servlet classes, as detailed

below. 

1. A directory for frequently changing servlet classes. 

Servlets in this directory are automatically reloaded when 

utorial/

their class file changes, so you should use this directory during 

vailble at  cat T

development. For example, this is normally 

om

install_dir/servlets

 with Sun's Java Web Server and 

IBM's WebSphere and 

install_dir/myserver/servlet 

omcat are a

classes

 for BEA WebLogic, although most servers let the 

or T /Apache Tm

server administrator specify a different location. Neither 

Tomcat nor the JSWDK support automatic servlet reloading. 

ons f

Nevertheless, they still have a similar directory in which to 

recti

place servlets; you just have to stop and restart the mini server 

each time you change an existing servlet. With Tomcat 3.0, 

.coreservlets.co

place servlets in 

install_dir/webpages/WEB INF/classes

. 

w

With the JSWDK 1.0.1, use 

TE: Updated di

install_dir/webpages/WEB INF/servlets

. 

NO http://ww

2. A directory for infrequently changing servlet classes. 

Servlets placed in this location are slightly more efficient since 

the server doesn't have to keep checking their modification 

dates. However, changes to class files in this directory require 

you to restart the server. This option (or Option 3 below) is the 

one to use for  production  servlets deployed to a high volume 

site. This directory is usually something like 

install_dir/classes

, which is the default name with Tom 

cat, the JSWDK, and the Java Web Server. Since Tomcat and 

the JSWDK do not support automatic servlet reloading, this 

directory works the same as the one described in Option 1, so 

most developers stick with that previous option.

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

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