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Towards Java EE Nirvana

Posted by cayhorstmann on February 2, 2009 at 6:27 PM EST

Java EE 6 makes it pretty straightforward to crunch out a basic web + database application. This semester, my software engineering class is building web apps, and I decided it is simpler to have them use JSF + JPA in Glassfish v3 rather than some technology that seems easy at first and then lets them down.

Here is a laundry list of recent simplifications.

  • Author JSF pages as facelets: XHTML + JSF tags. No icky JSP syntax
  • Use annotations: @ManagedBean @Stateless @Entity @EJB @PersistenceContext. No icky XML configuration
  • Use EZNavigation™ in JSF. Actions directly return the view ID string. Hooray—no navigation in faces-config.xml
  • No more busywork interfaces for session beans
  • Use entity annotations, and let JPA generate the tables. No SQL!
  • Package everything in a single WAR

The WAR file has the structure

web pages (.xhtml)
WEB-INF/
  web.xml
  faces-config.xml
  classes/
    managed beans
    stateless session beans
    entity beans
    META-INF/
      persistence.xml

There are three cookie-cutter XML files that you never need to touch. In particular, faces-config.xml is empty! The rest is XHTML and Java.

Unfortunately, setting up your tools is a bit of trouble because everything is right now a moving target. Here are the steps.

  1. Install Glassfish v3 Prelude
  2. Add the glassfish-v3-prelude-version/glassfish/bin directory to your PATH
  3. Run glassfish-v3-prelude-version/updatetool/updatetool. Add the Glassfish EJB container. Install any available updates.
  4. Check the version of the JSF implementation in the updatetool. If it is < 2.0, delete it and go back to the list of available modules. You should get a 2.0 module that you can install. You need version 2.0.0.9 or above.
  5. Start the server: 
    asadmin start-database
asadmin start-domain
  6. Download and unzip this test application. Edit build.properties and set the path of your Glassfish installation. Run ant. Point your browser to http://localhost:8080/SimpleQuiz

  7. You can use the EE version of Netbeans 6.5 out of the box. With the EE version of Eclipse 3.4, install the Eclipse Glassfish adapter . When you import the sample project into Eclipse, make a “Dynamic web project”, set the source path to src/java (not src), the web path to web (not WebContent), and uncheck “Generate deployment descriptor” . Both Netbeans and Eclipse do a beautiful job with hotswapping.

Overall, I was very happy. This is a huge step forward from five years ago, when Bruce Tate refused to eat Elephant again.

Have we reached Nirvana? Not quite. Here are some remaining hassles:

  • I hate writing (and reading) all those getters and setters. Did I ever mention that Java needs support for properties?
  • For a simple app, it is a nuisance to separate managed beans and session beans. Web beans, erm, Java Contexts and Dependency Injection, should solve that, but I didn't have the courage to throw that into the mix. Next semester :-)
  • Error reporting has become better, in no small part thanks to facelets. But I still get the stack trace from hell more often than I'd like.
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Comments

by cayhorstmann - 2009-07-16 15:32

The package name has changed after I posted the blog. Change javax.faces.model to javax.faces.bean for importing the annotations.

by chesterxgchen123 - 2009-07-16 15:14

Hi, I just downloaded your example and trying to build the project. Before I did, I change the build.properties to point to the glassfish.dir to glassfishv3_prelude/glassfish directory. When I build, I got the following errors. Buildfile: build.xml prepare: [mkdir] Created dir: /home/cchen/project/glassfish/SimpleQuiz/build [mkdir] Created dir: /home/cchen/project/glassfish/SimpleQuiz/build/WEB-INF/classes [mkdir] Created dir: /home/cchen/project/glassfish/SimpleQuiz/dist compile: [javac] Compiling 4 source files to /home/cchen/project/glassfish/SimpleQuiz/build/WEB-INF/classes [javac] /home/cchen/project/glassfish/SimpleQuiz/src/java/com/horstmann/simplequiz/managed/QuizMB.java:8: cannot find symbol [javac] symbol : class ManagedBean [javac] location: package javax.faces.model [javac] import javax.faces.model.ManagedBean; [javac] ^ [javac] /home/cchen/project/glassfish/SimpleQuiz/src/java/com/horstmann/simplequiz/managed/QuizMB.java:9: cannot find symbol [javac] symbol : class SessionScoped [javac] location: package javax.faces.model [javac] import javax.faces.model.SessionScoped; [javac] ^ [javac] /home/cchen/project/glassfish/SimpleQuiz/src/java/com/horstmann/simplequiz/managed/QuizMB.java:15: cannot find symbol [javac] symbol: class ManagedBean [javac] @ManagedBean(name = "quiz") [javac] ^ [javac] /home/cchen/project/glassfish/SimpleQuiz/src/java/com/horstmann/simplequiz/managed/QuizMB.java:16: cannot find symbol [javac] symbol: class SessionScoped [javac] @SessionScoped [javac] ^ [javac] 4 errors BUILD FAILED It looks like the build script expecting a JSF jar file. But I thought it is already included in the glassfish packages. Here is the output from ./pkg list with glassfish-jsf 1.2.12-1 installed u--- included. NAME (AUTHORITY) VERSION STATE UFIX felix 1.2.2-0 installed ---- glassfish-amx 3.0-28.5 installed ---- glassfish-api 3.0-28.5 installed ---- glassfish-common 3.0-28.5 installed ---- glassfish-ejb 3.0-28.5 installed ---- glassfish-grizzly 1.8.6.2-0 installed ---- glassfish-gui 3.0-28.5 installed ---- glassfish-hk2 3.0-28.5 installed ---- glassfish-jca 3.0-28.5 installed ---- glassfish-jdbc 3.0-28.5 installed ---- glassfish-jdbc-gui 3.0-28.5 installed ---- glassfish-jdbc-management 3.0-28.5 installed ---- glassfish-jpa 3.0-28.5 installed ---- glassfish-jsf 1.2.12-1 installed u--- glassfish-jta 3.0-28.5 installed ---- glassfish-management 3.0-28.5 installed ---- glassfish-nucleus 3.0-28.5 installed ---- glassfish-registration 3.0-28.5 installed ---- glassfish-scripting 3.0-28.5 installed ---- glassfish-web 3.0-28.5 installed ---- glassfish-web-gui 3.0-28.5 installed ---- glassfish-web-management 3.0-28.5 installed ---- javadb 10.2.2.1-0 installed u--- pkg 1.0.7-15.1269 installed ---- pkg-java 1.0.7-15.1269 installed ---- python2.4-minimal 2.4.4.0-15.1269 installed ---- did I missed something ?

by cayhorstmann - 2009-02-03 22:53

@arinte: Did JSF 1.x fulfill all the hopes we had for it? Sadly, it didn't. But time moves on, and JSF 2.0 looks a lot better. JSF has one big idea--let someone else do the heavy lifting of writing powerful components, and little old me drops them onto a page. The trouble with "big idea" development is that the 1.x version often disappoints. But what's the alternative? The "little idea" approach ("Oh neat, I get CRUD screens with 3 mouse clicks") doesn't really get you very far either. I admire the JSF and EJB folks for doggedly simplifying and fixing their stuff, without losing sight of the big idea.

by arinte - 2009-02-03 10:11

Sorry Cay, "but rather than some technology that seems easy at first and then lets them down" == JSF

by cayhorstmann - 2009-08-06 18:06

Are you still using the prelude version? You should use preview. I don't know if that still has 1.2, but it has 2.0. Currently 2.0.0-14.

by alexehaddad - 2009-08-05 17:52

Hello, I've been unsuccessful in getting point 4)"Installing the JSF 2.0 module from the update center". I deleted the 1.2 version using the updatetool, but I don't see the 2.x version. Can anyone assist? What could I be doing wrong or possibly be missing? I just see Glassfish JSF version 1.2.10-1 from the "Available Add-ons".