Advanced Java Networking

By now youve seen all the hype, read all the books, and discovered all the wonders of Java. But most of us still use C++ or C to create our hard-core applications, saving Java for our Web pages or leaving it to HTML jocks to fiddle with. Doing so denies us the opportunity to use a programming language that makes interfacing with a computer infinitely easier, with less frustration and faster results. Java is much more than "Dancing Dukes" or a programming language for Web pages. It is a strong alternative to the masochistic programming of the past, in which...
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Advanced Java NetworkingIntroductionBy now youve seen all the hype, read all the books, and discovered all the wonders ofJava. But most of us still use C++ or C to create our hard-core applications, savingJava for our Web pages or leaving it to HTML jocks to fiddle with. Doing so deniesus the opportunity to use a programming language that makes interfacing with acomputer infinitely easier, with less frustration and faster results.Java is much more than Dancing Dukes or a programming language for Web pages.It is a strong alternative to the masochistic programming of the past, in whichcountless months were spent debugging compared to the mere days it took to code theinitial concept. Java allows us to spend more time in the conceptual phase of softwaredesign, thinking up new and creative ways to bring the vast knowledge of the Internetand its many users to our desktop.Today, our information, and its steady flow, is garnered from the Internet and themillions of fellow computer users around the world. Up until now, youve no doubtdesigned programs to interface with that knowledge using C or C++. Java will changeall of that. In addition to its ability to create adorable and functional user interfacesquickly and easily is Javas ability to easily connect to the Internet. Java is, afterall,the Internet Language.What This Book Is All AboutAdvanced Java Networking is designed to present you with a myriad of alternatives toconnect your applications to the Internet. It is neither a programming reference nor amarketing brochure. Well leave that to the geeks and marketeers to battle out. Instead,we wanted to explore each alternative without marketing bias or engineering snobbery.One part of the engineering community will tell you that sockets are the only true wayto communicate information over a network. Another segment will say that Java-onlyapplications relying on Remote Method Invocation (RMI) will solve all yourcommunication problems. Then, of course, there is the Common Object RequestBroker Architecture (CORBA) camp. Well discuss these alternatives, and we willalso explore aspects of server-side programming in which we use a Web server as amechanism to generate dynamic Web pages that can be connected to databases (andjust about anything else). We present an honest account of each alternative andguidelines for choosing whats best for your business or programming needs. Inaddition to the hundreds of lines of sample code we supply to help you start fromscratch with Java communication, we place an additional emphasis on migration ofyour existing desktop-centric applications to an Internet-ready world.Who Should Read This BookThis book is not for beginning programmers nor is it an introductory Java text. Weassume that you have a strong object-oriented programming background, preferably inJava. You should have a strong grasp of such Java fundamentals as how to create aclass, how to compile and execute programs on your native system, and how todeploy Java applications. Furthermore, you should understand a good deal of theterminology of the object-oriented world.How to Read This BookWeve conceived this book in parts, with each part further divided in chapters. Eachpart addresses one aspect of Internet programming, be it Java Fundamentals; CoreNetworking such as RMI, CORBA, or Java Database Connectivity (JDBC);Advanced Networking like Beans and Web Servers; general Java Networkinginformation, including a special chapter on Internet security that addresses simpleApplet Security restrictions; or more complex subjects such as Directory Services andJNDI. We have also included a short chapter that is an introduction to TCP/IP andhow the Internet works. I have found this invaluable as the very first thing that wecover in the Internet Programming course I teach.Finally, we want to show you that Java programming is much more than an animationfloating by a Web page or interactive Internet content. Java is a language that can holdits own in the world of desktop applications and the examples in the book typicallyare written as applications rather than as applets. We make no effort to contain ourenthusiasm for Java and certainly dont apologize for our delight in working with it.We hope that you will come to love this language as much as we have.ConventionsWe use the monospaced Courier font to denote source code and type out our codelistings. If you see a Courier word within a sentence (for example Java Vectors arecool), it is the name of a class or object. We are also firm believers in the step-by-step approach to code samples. Therefore, we have generally shown the entire codelisting and the additions from the previous instance of it. The changes are in CourierBold. For example, the first time we show a code snippet, it looks like this:public class Dick{}And when we make an addition it is bolded:public class Dick{ String loves = Bobbie;}Also, when we show a command prompt, the part you type is also bolded:%prompt% dir c:\gamesThere are sidebars throughout this book that highlight certain parts of the text, asfollows. • Tips inform you of a special or unique way to accomplish something in Java networking. • Alerts tell you of any bugs or gotchas that you should be aware of while programming your applications. • Notes simply point out any information that might be useful to you in your network programming endeavors.Fixes and UpdatesWe would also like to take a moment to apologize in advance for any errors. Thisbook has been a total blast to write, and we might have gotten caught up in our ownexcitement here and there. In any event, we hope you have fun reading about andexploring the Java networked world!The CD-ROM that accompanies this book (see About the CD-ROM, at the back ofthe book for details regarding the CD ...