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Creating a Java Web App

Making it real.

A Java Web Application

  • A web app is just a directory. (What? That’s it?)

    java112/
|-- declarations2.jsp
|-- declarations.jsp
|-- default.css
|-- expressions.jsp
|-- firstJSP.jsp
|-- images/
|   |-- img1.jpg
|   |-- img2.jpg
|   |-- img3.jpg
|   |-- img4.jpg
|   |-- img5.jpg
|   `-- Thumbs.db
|-- index.jsp
|-- jspInit.jsp
|-- linkingDemo.html
|-- META-INF/
|   `-- MANIFEST.MF
|-- myFirstJSP.jsp
|-- scriptlets.jsp
`-- WEB-INF/
    |-- classes/
    |   `-- java112/
    |       `-- project2/
    |           |-- SimpleHtmlServlet.class
    |           |-- SimpleTextServlet.class
    |           |-- TestHTTPServer.class
    |           `-- TrivialServlet.class
    |-- lib/
    `-- web.xml

  • However, the directory has to be structured just right. (I knew there was a catch.)

  • Here are some of the elements that are required.

    • A WEB-INF/ directory.
    • A classes/ in the WEB-INF directory.
    • A web.xml file in the WEB-INF directory.
    • A META-INF/ directory.
    • A MANIFEST.MF file in the META-INF directory.
    • All the static files for your site.
    • A lib/ directory to contain jar files your app needs.

  • Then the entire directory is zipped into a file and named java112.war instead of java112.zip.

  • Then we have to move the file to your tomcat/webapps/ directory.
    • $ ant deploy will do all of this for you.

Accessing your Web App