Servlet Introduction

Objectives
 Servlet hierarchy
 Servlet Life cycle
 HttpServlet
 HttpServletRequest
 HttpServletResponse
 Servlet mapping
 Servlets collaboration

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 What a Servlet is
• Servlets are small Java programs that run on a
Web server and help to build dynamic Web pages.
• Servlets receive and respond to requests from Web
clients, usually across HTTP, the HyperText
Transfer Protocol.
• Java Servlet technology was created as a portable
way to provide dynamic, user-oriented content.
• Because the servlet is running on the server side, it
does not require any Java-support from Web
browser
• Servlet is multi-thread
• Controller
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 What a Servlet is
• Servlet is multi-thread

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 What a Servlet is...

Request Web
Web
Browser
Browser Internet HTTP Protocol Server
Server
Client
Client Response
ServletContainer

Servlets

Database
Database
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 Hierarchy of Servlet class
• The javax.servlet package
provides interfaces and classes
for writing servlets

• When a servlet accepts a call from a client, it receives two

objects:
– ServletRequest, which encapsulates the communication from the
client to the server.
– ServletResponse, which encapsulates the communication from the
servlet to the client.

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 The Servlet interface
 At the heart of servlet architecture is the
interface javax.servlet.Servlet.
 It provides the framework for all servlets.
 The Servlet interface defines five methods.
The three most important are as follows:
 init() method—Initializes a servlet
 service() method—Receives and responds to
client requests
 destroy() method—Performs cleanup
 All servlets must implement this interface,
either directly or through inheritance.
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 The servlet framework.

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 The Servlet Life Cycle

init

service

destroy

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 Servlet life cycle
 The init() method is where the servlet's
life cycle begins.
 It is called by the server immediately after the
servlet is instantiated.
 It is called only once.
 public void init(ServletConfig config) throws
ServletException;
 In the init() method, the servlet creates and
initializes any resources, including data members,
that it will be using while handling requests.

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 Servlet life cycle
 The service() method handles all
requests sent by a client.
 The entry point for executing application logic
in a servlet
 It cannot start servicing requests until the
init() method has been executed.
 The service() method implements a
request and response paradigm.
 We should never implement this method
directly if extending from HttpServlet

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 Servlet life cycle
 The destroy() method signifies the end of a
servlet's life.
 When a service is being shut down, it calls the servlet's
destroy() method.
 This is where any resources that were created in the init()
method will be cleaned up.
 If you have an open database connection, you should close it
here.
 This is also a good place to save any persistent information that
will be used the next time the servlet is loaded.
 The getServletConfig() method returns the
servlet's ServletConfig object, which contains
the servlet's startup configuration and initialization
parameters.
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 The ServletRequest
 ServletRequest encapsulate information about the
client's request includes: parameter name/value pairs,
attributes, and an input stream.
 getAttribute(String name) returns value of

the object keyed by the name for the current request.

 getParameter(String name) method returns

the value of the requested parameter.

 If the parameter has or could have more than one

value, use the getParameterValues() method.

 getRemoteAddress() method returns a String

representing the IP address of the client sending the

request.

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 The ServletResponse
 ServletResponse sends MIME data back to the
client from the servlet's service method.
 getWriter() method returns a print writer used

for writing formatted text to the response object.

 getOutputStream() method returns an output
stream used for writing binary data to the response.
 setContentType() method sets the content
type of the current response.
 This method must be called before calling the
getWriter() or getOutputStream() methods.

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 HttpServlet
 The HttpServlet class has already implemented the
service() method.
protected void service(HttpServletRequest req,
HttpServletResponse resp)throws ServletException, IOException;
 When the HttpServlet.service() method is
invoked, it reads the method type stored in the request
and determines which method to invoke based upon this
value.
 If the method type is GET, it will call doGet(). If the method
type is POST, it will call doPost().
 These are the methods that you will want to override
 Typically, we should not override the service() method, but the
doPost() and/or doGet() method
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 HttpServlet

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 HttpServlet Class
• The protocol defines a set of text-based request messages
called HTTP ‘methods’ implemented in HttpServlet class:
 doGet Called by the server (via the service method)to allow a servlet to handle
a GET request
 doHead Receives an HTTP HEAD request from the protected
service method and handles the request
 doPost called by the server to allow a servlet to handle post
request
 doPut Called by the server (via the service method) to allow a servlet to
handle a PUT request
 doDelete Called by the server (via the service method) to allow a
servlet to handle a DELETE request
 doTrace Called by the server (via the service method) to allow a
servlet to handle a TRACE request
 doOptions Called by the server (via the service method) to allow a servlet
to handle a OPTIONS request

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 The HttpServletRequest
 HttpServletRequest provides the
HttpServlet.service() to access HTTP header
information sent by the client.
 getQueryString() method returns the query string from the
request.
 getSession(true) method returns the session associated
with the request. If there is no valid session and the boolean
parameter passed in is true, then it will create a new session.
 getRemoteUser() method returns the name of the user
making the request. If the name is not available, null is
returned.
 getMethod() method returns the HTTP method used by the
client request.
 setAttribute(name, object) save object into request with name
 getAttribute(name) return the object referenced by name
attributes pass informations from one servlet to another
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 The HttpServletResponse
 HttpServletResponse
 encodeURL() method encodes the passed-in
String and returns it. If no changes are
necessary, then it simply returns the String.
 sendError(int er, String msg) method
sends an error to the client in the response object.
The error consists of the int status code and a
String message.
 sendRedirect(url) method redirects the client
to the passed-in URL, which must be an absolute
URL.
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 Servlet init parameter
 Init parameters of a servlet can help to specify important aspects that are
going to be handled during requests service .
 Semester code for a servlet to retrieve student’s timetable

 Declare in web.xml for servlet or anotation

 @WebServlet(name = “Schedule", urlPatterns = {"/schedule"},

initParams={ @WebInitParam(name=“semester", value=“Fall 2021")}))
 String semCode=getInitParameter(“semester”);

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 Servlet mapping-Invoke a Servlet
 There are two ways to invoke a servlet.
 Servlet mapping in web.xml: calling by url-pattern

 Mapping by @webServlet annotation

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 A Simple Servlet
import java.io.*;
import javax.servlet.*;
import javax.servlet.http.*;

public class FirstServlet extends HttpServlet {

public void doGet(HttpServletRequest request,

HttpServletResponse response)
throws ServletException, IOException
{
PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();
out.println(“<h1>First Servlet</h1>");
}
}

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 Servlet Collaboration
 A servlet can receive a request from client and
delegates the processing to another servlet.
 There are 2 solutions for this collaboration:
 Using servlet chaining:
 configure the servlet container to chain the servlet;

 not supported by servlet API specification

 Using Request Dispatching

 Allow a servlet to dispatch a request to another

servlet for generating the response

 The RequestDispatcher used for this purpose

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 RequestDispatcher
 A servlet obtains a RequestDispatcher object
for a resource by calling:
 ServletContext.getRequestDispatcher(String URLpath)
 ServletRequest. getRequestDispatcher(String URLpath)
 ServletContext.getNameDispatcher(String name)
 void forward(request,response)
 Forwards a request from a servlet to another resource
 The request and response parameters must be the same
objects as were passed to the calling servlet
 void include(request,response)
 Includes the content of a resource (servlet, JSP page, HTML
file) in the response

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 Summary
 Servlets concept
 Servlets hierarchy structure
 Servlet life cycle
 HttpServlet
 HttpServletRequest
 HttpServletResponse
 Servlet Init parameter
 Servlet mapping
 Servlet Collaboration
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 Constructive question
 How many servlet instance are instantiated to
serve many request from multi client?
 When the servlet's init() method is invoked?
 A web application allows users to log in with
different roles. Try to come up the solution to
meet this requirement that is most convenient
for users
 Write a single servlet that responds to user
login requests with no support components

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