In this project we are going to look at how we might choose to handle the automatic selection of advertisements to be displayed on our web site. Not only how this can be done for static (non-search result) pages, but also dynamic (search result) pages. During the tutorial we will be discussing mostly the method of implementation. For more a more detailed view of exactly how our results were achieved you should look at the files supplied.
Read MoreTo develop a customizable system we need to, as the saying goes, "look back to look forward." For starters, we should examine those tools that we are currently provided with to see what we can improve and innovate on. We'll start with an examination of\ Microsoft's solution, the Ad Rotator.
Read MoreWe've all seen the sites which have nifty rotating banners. Each page you visit, you see a random advertisement at the top. If you click on the banner, you are taken to the advertiser's website. If you've ever considered adding such a system to your own site, you are in luck, because Microsoft provides a component that makes banner rotation painfully simple.
The component from Microsoft is called the Ad Rotator, and comes standard with ASP. (This means that your web host provider more than likely has this component available for you to use!) The Ad Rotator isn't a solve-all; for example, the Ad Rotator doesn't track banner impressions and click-throughs. (However, with a little tweaking, we can keep track of some of these statistics.)
Read MoreSINCE THE INTRODUCTION of JSP technology, two architectures have emerged for building server-side Web applications in Java. The first involves JSPs only, and the second uses JSPs and Servlets together. Referred to as Model 1 and Model 2 architectures, respectively, each model has its advantages and disadvantages. The Model 2 architecture has become quite popular recently, and has received a great deal of coverage on the Web and in trade magazines. In fact, many developers mistakenly believe this architecture has replaced the Model 1 architecture and is the "right" way to use JSPs.
Read MoreOver time as I program in both JSP and ASP, I am increasingly finding JSP to be the far more powerful of the two server-side programming solutions. More than any other feature, tag libraries are the one aspect of JSP which has caused me to to choose JSP as my primary server-side web application tool.
Why? It all comes down to two issues: maintenance and development speed. Server-side scripting languages are the melting pot of Internet development. Within a single server page you may easily intermix different scripting methodologies and objects. Like concrete, this mixing of 'materials' is what gives server-side scripting its strength and it enables the server-side programmer to design very dynamic and flexible web pages. The free intermixing of scripting, however, can be very hard to maintain, especially as the size of the project increases. The end product is one that takes an experienced programmer to build and maintain instead of a traditional web designer. As a result server-side applications tend to be weaker in their final graphical design and implementation. Even worse, as the code gets more complicated the development speed decreases. Consequently, many medium- and large-sized server-side web applications are late and over budget. Finally, once implemented, many shops face the problem of finding qualified programmers to maintain what has become known as *spaghetti code.*
Read MoreJSP: The Short Course is intended to provide you with a basic understanding of JSP - enough to allow you to quickly become a confident builder of content-rich JavaServer Pages. Beyond that, you will have a solid base for further learning.
Will this tutorial make you a JSP expert? ABSOLUTELY NOT!
Will it give you the basic tools? ABSOLUTELY YES!
Interested in building a form mailing utility with JSP? Well, you have come to the right place. In this tutorial find help with writing the HTML page used to gather email data, understanding some important features of the JavaMail API, and incorporating those features into JSP. This primer on JavaMail basics includes a working example of successfully implementing JavaMail in JSP. Once mastered, JavaMail is a powerful API utility for JSP applications.
Read MoreYesterday, in part 1, Rey Nuñez introduced us to Web forms, an ASP.NET technology designed to easily build dynamic, interactive web pages. Today, he delves a little bit deeper into this technology, looking in detail at web controls - ASP.NET web controls are analogous to, but more flexible than HTML controls. They are designed to provide a simplified way to add powerful functionality to a web page via web forms.
Read MoreWeb forms are an ASP.NET technology designed to easily build dynamic, interactive web pages. They provide a programming interface akin to the API's in forms-based development tools that are used in building highly responsive office productivity applications. In the first part of this two-part series, Rey Nuñez delivers an introduction to getting to grips with this technology. In the second part, tommorrow, he completes the story by going into web controls in detail.
Read MoreAre you one of many who has heard a lot about SSI, Includes, .shtml, etc... lately? Well, they're usually referring to Server Side Includes.
By Pete Gullekson
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