Separation of dynamic and static content

The JavaServer Pages technology enables the separation of static content from dynamic 

content that is inserted into the static template. This greatly simplifies the creation of 

content. This separation is supported by beans specifically designed for the interaction 

with server side objects, and, specially, by the tag extension mechanism.

Support for scripting and actions

The JavaServer Pages technology supports scripting elements as well as actions. Actions 

permit the 

encapsulation

 of useful functionality in a convenient form that can also be 

manipulated by tools; scripts provide a mechanism to 

glue together

 this functionality in a 

per page manner.

Web access layer for N tier enterprise application architecture(s)

The JavaServer Pages technology is an integral part of the Java 2 Platform Enterprise 

Edition (J2EE), which brings Java technology to enterprise computing. You can now 

develop powerful middle tier server applications, using a Web site that uses JavaServer 

Pages technology as a front end to Enterprise JavaBeans components in a J2EE compliant 

environment.

1.2

What is a JSP Page?

A JSP page is a text based document that describes how to process a 

request

 to create a 

response

. The description intermixes template data with some dynamic actions and leverages 

on the Java Platform. 

The features in the JSP technology support a number of different paradigms for authoring of 

dynamic content; some of them are described in Section 1.6. The next couple of examples 

only attempt to present the technical components of the JSP specification and are not 

prescribing  good  or  bad  paradigms.

An Example Using Scripting and Beans

An simple example of a JSP page is shown in 

FIGURE 1 1

. The example shows the response 

page, which is intended to be a short list with the day of the month and year at the moment 

when the request is received. The page itself contains 

fixed template text

 and additional 

elements described by the JSP specification that are shown underlined in the figure. As the 

request reaches the page, the response is created based on the template text. As the first 

element is reached, a server side Bean object is created with name 

clock

 and type 

19

JavaServer Pages 1.1 Specification   November 30, 1999