Friday, June 29, 2007

JSP and Java Servlets

JSP

JSP stands for Java Server Pages. JSP is a server-side technology Java Server Pages are an extension to the Java Servlet technology that was developed by Sun.

JSPs have dynamic scripting capability that works in tandem with HTML code, separating the page logic from the static elements -- the actual design and display of the page -- to help make the HTML more functional (i.e. dynamic database queries).

JSPs are not restricted to any specific platform or server. It was originally created as an alternative to Microsoft's ASPs (Active Server Pages). Recently, however, Microsoft has countered JSP technology with its own ASP.NET, part of the .NET initiative.

Java Servlets

Servlets are Java technology's answer to CGI programming. A JSP is translated into Java servlet before being run and it processes HTTP requests and generates responses like any servlet. However, JSP technology provides a more convenient way to code a servlet. Translation occurs the first time the application is run. A JSP translator is triggered by the .jsp file name extension in a URL. JSPs are fully interoperable with servlets. You can include output from a servlet or forward the output to a servlet and a servlet can include output from a JSP or forward output to a JSP.

They are programs that run on a Web server and build Web pages. Building Web pages on the fly is useful (and commonly done) for a number of reasons:

The Web page is based on data submitted by the user. For example the results pages from search engines are generated this way and programs that process orders for e-commerce sites do this as well.

The data changes frequently. For example, a weather-report or news headlines page might build the page dynamically, perhaps returning a previously built page if it is still up to date.

The Web page uses information from corporate databases or other such sources. For example, you would use this for making a Web page at an on-line store that lists current prices and number of items in stock.

Advantage of Servlets Over CGI

Java servlets are more efficient, easier to use, more powerful, more portable, and cheaper than traditional CGI and than many alternative CGI-like technologies. More importantly, servlet developers get paid more than Perl programmers.

Efficient

With traditional CGI, a new process is started for each HTTP request. If the CGI program does a relatively fast operation, the overhead of starting the process can dominate the execution time. With servlets, the Java Virtual Machine stays up, and each request is handled by a lightweight Java thread, not a heavyweight operating system process. Similarly, in traditional CGI, if there are N simultaneous request to the same CGI program, then the code for the CGI program is loaded into memory N times. With servlets, however, there are N threads but only a single copy of the servlet class. Servlets also have more alternatives than do regular CGI programs for optimizations such as caching previous computations, keeping database connections open, and the like.

Convenient

Hey, you already know Java. Why learn Perl too? Besides the convenience of being able to use a familiar language, servlets have an extensive infrastructure for automatically parsing and decoding HTML form data, reading and setting HTTP headers, handling cookies, tracking sessions, and many other such utilities.

Powerful

Java servlets let you easily do several things that are difficult or impossible with regular CGI. For one thing, servlets can talk directly to the Web server (regular CGI programs can't). This simplifies operations that need to look up images and other data stored in standard places. Servlets can also share data among each other, making useful things like database connection pools easy to implement. They can also maintain information from request to request, simplifying things like session tracking and caching of previous computations.

Portable


Servlets are written in Java and follow a well-standardized API. Consequently, servlets written for, say I-Planet Enterprise Server can run virtually unchanged on Apache, Microsoft IIS, or WebStar. Servlets are supported directly or via a plugin on almost every major Web server.

Inexpensive

There are a number of free or very inexpensive Web servers available that are good for "personal" use or low-volume Web sites. However, with the major exception of Apache, which is free, most commercial-quality Web servers are relatively expensive. Nevertheless, once you have a Web server, no matter the cost of that server, adding servlet support to it (if it doesn't come preconfigured to support servlets) is generally free or cheap.

What is JSP?

Java Server Pages (JSP) is a technology that lets you mix regular, static HTML with dynamically-generated HTML. Many Web pages that are built by CGI programs are mostly static, with the dynamic part limited to a few small locations. But most CGI variations, including servlets, make you generate the entire page via your program, even though most of it is always the same. JSP lets you create the two parts separately. Here's an example:

Advantages of JSP

Over Active Server Pages (ASP)


ASP is a similar technology from Microsoft. The advantages of JSP are twofold. First, the dynamic part is written in Java, not Visual Basic or other MS-specific language, so it is more powerful and easier to use. Second, it is portable to other operating systems and non-Microsoft Web servers.

Over Pure Servlets

JSP doesn't give you anything that you couldn't in principle do with a servlet. But it is more convenient to write and to modify regular HTML than to have a zillion println statements that generate the HTML. Plus, by separating the look from the content you can put different people on different tasks: your Web page design experts can build the HTML, leaving places for your servlet programmers to insert the dynamic content.

Over Server-Side Includes (SSI)

SSI is a widely-supported technology for including externally-defined pieces into a static Web page. JSP is better because it lets you use servlets instead of a separate program to generate that dynamic part. Besides, SSI is really only intended for simple inclusions, not for "real" programs that use form data, make database connections, and the like.

Over JavaScript

JavaScript can generate HTML dynamically on the client. This is a useful capability, but only handles situations where the dynamic information is based on the client's environment. With the exception of cookies, HTTP and form submission data is not available to JavaScript. And, since it runs on the client, JavaScript can't access server-side resources like databases, catalogs, pricing information, and the like.

Over Static HTML

Regular HTML, of course, cannot contain dynamic information. JSP is so easy and convenient that it is quite feasible to augment HTML pages that only benefit marginally by the insertion of small amounts of dynamic data. Previously, the cost of using dynamic data would preclude its use in all but the most valuable instances.


Cheers Aurobindo

Thursday, June 28, 2007

10 signs that it's time to look for a new job

Making a job change can be a life-altering decision, often requiring considerable courage and a leap of faith--but it's easier if you're convinced it's the right thing to do. Having just made a major career shift herself, IT pro Becky Roberts put together a list of factors that helped guide her decision.

The signs she identified that point to the need for change include knowing you aren't performing to the best of your ability, being unable to picture your future with your current company, recognizing that your skills are falling behind with no hope of updating them, and feeling underappreciated or underpaid.


it goes here

Use hacker strategies to build a successful information security career

This chapter from InfoSec Career Hacking: Sell Your Skillz, Not Your Soul offers advice on determining the type of information security job that's right for you, how to dig for the details about companies you're pursuing, best ways to make contact with employers and key personnel, and how to get more mileage out of the relationships you establish.

The information security field may be heating up, but that doesn't mean it's easy to break into it. The Syngress book InfoSec Career Hacking: Sell Your Skillz, Not Your Soul offers a hacker's-eye view of best strategies for reconnoitering the infosec job market and preparing yourself to excel in the field. This sample chapter offers advice for determining the type of job you want, gaining public and internal information about targeted companies, and establishing and leveraging effective contacts.


it goes here...

A Manager's Guide to IT Terminology

You have to read this white paper to know the latest IT teminology...

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cheers

The top 10 IT skills on the way to extinction

1.Cobol
2. Nonrelational DBMS
3. Non-IP networks
4. cc:Mail
5. ColdFusion
6. C programming
7. PowerBuilder
8. Certified NetWare Engineers
9. PC network administrators
10. OS/2
The top 10 dead (or dying) computer skills
Are your skills in need of upgrading?

In fact, the harder you try to declare a technology dead, it seems, the more you turn up evidence of its continuing existence. Nevertheless, after speaking with several industry stalwarts, we've compiled a list of skills and technologies that, while not dead, can perhaps be said to be in the process of dying. Or as Stewart Padveen, Internet entrepreneur and currently founder of AdPickles Inc., says, "Obsolescence is a relative -- not absolute -- term in the world of technology."

1. Cobol
Y2k was like a second gold rush for Cobol programmers who were seeing dwindling need for their skills. But six-and-a-half years later, there's no savior in sight for this fading language. At the same time, while there's little curriculum coverage anymore at universities teaching computer science, "when you talk to practitioners, they'll say there are applications in thousands of organizations that have to be maintained," says Heikki Topi, chair of computer information services at Bentley College in Waltham, Mass., and a member of the education board for the Association for Computing Machinery.

And for those who want to help do that, you can actually learn Cobol at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, which according to Mary Sumner, a professor there, still offers a Cobol course. "Two of the major employers in the area still use Cobol, and for many of their entry-level jobs, they want to see that on the transcript," she says. "Until that changes, we'd be doing the students a disservice by not offering it." (see also: "Cobol Coders: Going, Going, Gone? ")

2. Nonrelational DBMS

In the 1980s, there were two major database management systems approaches: hierarchical systems, such as IBM's IMS and SAS Institute Inc.'s System 2000, and network DBMS, such as CA's IDMS and Oracle Corp.'s DBMS, formerly the VAX DBMS. Today, however, both have been replaced by the relational DBMS approach, embodied by SQL databases such as DB2, Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server, says Topi. "The others are rarely covered anymore in database curricula," he says.

3. Non-IP networks

TCP/IP has largely taken over the networking world, and as a result, there's less demand than ever for IBM Systems Network Architecture (SNA) skills. "It's worth virtually nothing on the market," says David Foote, president of Foote Partners LLC in New Canaan, Conn. Foote tracks market pay for individual IT skills, which companies usually pay as a lump sum or a percentage of workers' base pay, either as a bonus or an adjustment to their base salary. SNA, Foote says, commands less than 1% premium pay. "It's like a penny from 1922 -- there has to be someone who wants to buy it."

Despite the fact that many banks, insurance firms and other companies still have large investments in SNA networks, the educational offerings in this area are also rare, according to Topi. "The dominant model of protocols is TCP/IP and the Internet technologies," he says.


4. cc:Mail

This store-and-forward LAN-based e-mail system from the 1980s was once used by about 20 million people. However, as e-mail was integrated into more-complex systems such as Lotus Notes and Microsoft Exchange, its popularity waned, and in 2000, it was withdrawn from the market. According to Foote, "cc:Mail is a bygone era. Now e-mail is tied into everything else, and cc:Mail didn't make that leap." Just the same, the product continues to be commercially supported by Global System Services Corp. in Mountain View, Calif.

5. ColdFusion

This once-popular Web programming language -- released in the mid-1990s by Allaire Corp. (which was later purchased by Macromedia Inc., which itself was acquired by Adobe Systems Inc.) -- has since been superseded by other development platforms, including Microsoft Corp.'s Active Server Pages and .Net, as well as Java, Ruby on Rails, Python, PHP and other open-source languages. Debates continue over whether ColdFusion is as robust and scalable as its competitors, but nevertheless, premiums paid for ColdFusion programmers have dropped way off, according to Foote. "It was really popular at one time, but the market is now crowded with other products," he says.

6. C programming

As the Web takes over, C languages are also becoming less relevant, according to Padveen. "C++ and C Sharp are still alive and kicking, but try to find a basic C-only programmer today, and you'll likely find a guy that's unemployed and/or training for a new skill," he says. (see also: "Hot Skills, Cold Skills ")

7. PowerBuilder

Recruiters that have been around since the 1990s, such as David Hayes, president of HireMinds LLC in Cambridge, Mass., remember when PowerBuilder programmers were "hot, hot, hot," as he says. Developed by Powersoft Inc., this client/server development tool in 1994 was bought by Sybase Inc., which was once a strong Oracle competitor.

Today, PowerBuilder developers are at the very bottom of the list of in-demand application development and platform skills, with pay about equal to Cobol programmers, according to Foote. Nevertheless, the product keeps on trucking, with PowerBuilder 11 expected this year, which has the ability to generate .Net code. (see also: "35 Technologies that shaped the industry ")

8. Certified NetWare Engineers

In the early 1990s, it was all the rage to become a Certified NetWare Engineer, especially with Novell Inc. enjoying 90% market share for PC-based servers. Today, however, you don't have to look far to find CNEs retraining themselves with other skills to stay marketable. "It seems like it happened overnight," Hayes says. "Everyone had Novell, and within a two-year period, they'd all switched to NT." Novell says it will continue supporting NetWare 6.5 through at least 2015; however, it has also retired several of its NetWare certifications, including Master CNE and NetWare 5 CNE, and it plans to retire NetWare 6 CNE. "Companies are still paying skill premiums for CNEs, but they're losing value," Foote says.

9. PC network administrators

With the accelerating move to consolidate Windows servers, some see substantially less demand for PC network administrators. "You see the evidence for that in the demise of those programs at the technical and two-year schools and the loss of instructors," says Nate Viall, president of Nate Viall & Associates, an AS/400 (iSeries) recruiting company.

10. OS/2

A rough translation of OS/2 could be "wrong horse." Initially created by Microsoft and IBM and released with great fanfare in 1987, the collaboration soon unraveled, and after repeated rumors of its demise, IBM finally discontinued sales in 2005. OS/2 still has a dedicated community, however, and a company called Serenity Systems International still sells the operating system under the name eComStation.

So, What are you thinking of????

Decide it now... or never!!!!!!!

Monday, June 25, 2007

"WO DEKHO SOFTWARE ENGINEER JAA RAHA HAI"

"WO DEKHO SOFTWARE ENGINEER JAA RAHA HAI"

(A tribute to all Software Engineers !!! )



Apne Project ke bojh tale daba jaa raha hai,

Wo dekho ek Software engineer ja raha hai,



zindagi se hara hua hai, par "Bugs" se haar nahi manata,

Apne application ki ek ek line ise rati hui hai,

par aaj kaun se rang ke moje pehne hain , ye nahi janata,

din par din ek excel file banata ja raha hai Wo dekho ek Software
engineer ja raha hai,



das hazaar line ke code main error dhoond lete hain lekin, majboor dost
ki ankhon ki nami dikhayi nahi deti,

pc pe hazaar windows khuli hain, par dil ki khidki pe koi dastak sunayi
nahi deti,

satuday-sunday nahata nahi, week days ko naha raha hai,

Wo dekho ek Software engineer ja raha hai,



Coding karte karte pata hi nahi chala, bugs ki priority kab maa-baap se
high ho gayi,

kitabon main gulab rakhne wala , cigerette ke dhuyen main kho gaya,

dil ki zameen se armaanon ki vidayi ho gayi,



weekends pe daroo peke jo jashna mana raha hai,

Wo dekho ek Software engineer ja raha hai,



maze lena ho iske to pooch lo,

"Salary Increment" ki party kab dila rahe ho,

hansi udana ho to pooch lo,

"Onsite" kab ja rahe ho?

wo dekho onsite se laute team-mate ki chocolates kha raha hai,

Wo dekho ek Software engineer ja raha hai,



kharche badh rahe hain, baal kam ho rahe hain,

KRA ki date ati nahi, Income Tax ke sitam ho rahe hain,

lo phir se bus choot gayi, Auto se aa raha hai,

Wo dekho ek Software engineer ja raha hai,



Pizza gale se nahi utarta, to "Coke" ke sahare nigal liya jata hai,

office ki "Thali" dekh munh hai bigadta,

maa ke hath ka wo khana baar roz yaad ata hai,

"Sprout bhel" bani hai phir bhi, free "Evening Snacks" kha raha hai,

Wo dekho ek Software engineer ja raha hai,



aapne ab tak li hongi bahut si chutikiya,

Software engg. ke jivan ka sach batati ye akhri kuch panktiyan,



hazaron ki tankhwah wala, company ki karodon ki jeb bharta hai,

software engg. wahi ban sakta hai, jo lohe ka jigar rakhta hai,



hum log jee jee ke marte hain , zindagi hai kuch aisi,

ek fauj ki naukri, doosri software engg. ki , dono ek jaisi,



is kavita ka har shabd dil ki gehrayi se aa raha hai,

Wo dekho ek Software engineer ja raha hai,

Cheers Aurobindo