4. JavaServer Pages
Java has established itself as the dominant language for server-side programming. Through JSP, Java is going to become equally important in 2001 as a Web application development language.
Java makes it easier for developers to write safe, reliable programs through features such as automatic memory management and structured exception handling, while its large set of APIs and cross-platform design provide power and great portability.
JavaServer Pages provides a seamless way to connect Web applications, which are usually written in HTML and by Web designersââ,¬"not professional programmersââ,¬"with the growing assortment of back-end business logic written in Java. No other Web scripting language provides as consistent and as integrated a development model for both Web application and back-end logic development. (When Microsoft releases its .Net framework in 2001, the company will provide a similarly comprehensive Web programming model.)
However, JSP has had a few years on the market to become understood and to mature. The technology will hit critical mass in 2001.
Although the specification is just at Version 1.1, JSP is already widely supported among high-end application servers and on platforms ranging from PCs to mainframes, because JSP support is a required part of Sun Microsystems' Java2 Enterprise Edition Java application server specification.
On the low end, the Apache Group has released Tomcat, a free, open-source JSP engine that is itself written in Java and so can be run anywhere Java runs. Tomcat's liberal licensing terms make it attractive and easy for software vendors to embed Tomcat in their applications.
JSP is unique among Web scripting languages in its support for both a tag-based programming style (such as those that Allaire's Cold Fusion made popular), using tag libraries, and an embedded script-block programming style (such as Microsoft's Active Server Pages or the PHP Development Team's PHP use).
A relative lack of integrated development environments has been an obstacle for JSP, but this year saw the introduction of several new tools (ranging from Macromedia's Dreamweaver UltraDev to Allaire's JRun Studio to Web Gain's WebGain Studio) that target JSP developers.
