JSP Hosting Basics

JSP Hosting is one of the many Java hosting options web developers have at their disposal. JSP hosting refers to the ability to easily run and manage Java Server Pages. Java Server Pages (JSP) is quite similar to Microsoft's Active Server Pages (ASP) and thus JSP hosting is not much different from ASP hosting.

Java Server Pages is a server-side language that uses simple tag-based codes inserted into HTML and XML to produce dynamic and interactive web pages that are platform independent, meaning that by all rights they should appear exactly the same on every computer screen, no matter the platform. This is especially easy when publishing your JSP-coded website on a JSP-supported Java hosting provider.

JSP lets web designers combine dynamically generated HTML in with their standard, static HTML code. While most CGI programs require you to compose the entire website in that one program, JSP allows you to compose the dynamic aspects and the static aspects of your site separately.

Java Hosting that includes JSP support would then be the logical choice of any web designer wishing to eliminate the irritating need to repeat work they've already done. Java hosting, and JSP hosting specifically, would also be an efficient choice for those web designers working with a team.

One of the greatest aspects about JSP is that you don't need to learn Java to use it.

JSP's use a variety of simple tags. The following are some of the most basic and common ones:

• Directives: <%@directive%> Instructions processed when the page is compiled

• Hidden Comments: <--comment--> Document the page, not sent to the client

• Declarations: <%!declaration%> Declare methods or variables with scope throughout the page.

• Expressions: <%=expression%> A bit more complicated to explain, expressions produce results which are then inserted into the output stream at the appropriate place

• Scriptlets: <%scriptlet%> A fragment of code that can access a declared variable and execute it at a defined time.

• Actions: <jsp:action> An XML-style tag that can perform any of a slew of functions

Why might you choose JSP and an appropriate Java hosting provider for your web hosting needs over some of the other scripts out there?

JSP, unlike ASP, is not written in a platform specific language. Also unlike ASP, JSP is portable to non-Microsoft servers and operating systems.

JSP is easier to compose than pure servlets, requiring a programmer only expand on their existing knowledge of HTML. Additionally, because with JSP, your website's appearance and content can be designed separately, you can have different people (or teams) working simultaneously on building different aspects of your site.

Server Side Includes, while allowing programmers to insert dynamic pieces into a static website, is not designed for full-in programs, like those that can manage forms and databases. Besides, servlets, which perform the same function, are part of Java technology already? Why seek an outside source for a tool you can get in an all-in-one package?

JavaScript also has some of the same functionality as JSP but not to the same degree, and certainly not to a sufficient degree to run a fully-dynamic site. JavaScript is limited to handling client-side dynamic information.

And of course JSP gives you more creative and functional freedom than traditional, static HTML, which cannot create dynamic content.

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