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Welcome to the Java Technology Fundamentals Newsletter.

This monthly newsletter provides a way for you to learn the basics of the Java programming language, discover new resources, and keep up-to-date on the latest additions to Sun Developer Network's New to Java Center.

Getting Sun Java Certified

Getting certified is a great way to invest in your professional development and to help boost your career potential. IT managers know the skills verified during the certification process are the same skills that can lead to increased productivity and enhanced staff credibility.

Earning a Sun Java technology certification provides a clear demonstration of your technical skills and professional dedication.

Sun offers the following certifications for Java technologies:

Java SE

• Sun Certified Programmer for the Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition
• Sun Certified Developer for the Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition

Java EE

• Sun Certified Web Component Developer for the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition
• Sun Certified Business Component Developer for the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition
• Sun Certified Developer for Java Web Services
• Sun Certified Enterprise Architect for the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition

Java ME

• Sun Certified Mobile Application Developer for the Java 2 Platform, Micro Edition

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Java SE Technologies at a Glance

Java technologies and application programming interfaces (APIs) are the foundation of the Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE). They provide all you need to create server applications, desktop applications, and applets that run on almost every popular operating system, including Linux, Macintosh, Solaris Operating Environment, and Microsoft Windows.

The interactive map in the "Java SE 6 Platform at a Glance" section of the following page allows you to see how the technologies relate to the Java platform. You can click on each item to get the documentation on each technology:

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Java Technologies in Desktop Applications

As you learn the details and syntax of the Java programming language, a question begins to emerge: Which Java technologies do I need to create a desktop application, and which packages should I import? The answer depends on what kind of application you are building and what it does.

This article is aimed at developers new to Java technologies. It describes the technologies involved in creating various types of desktop applications and when you might decide to use them. Future articles will cover the details about how to use these technologies and how to use them together.

In the meantime, you can get started learning some of the technologies by following links within this article.

To use any of the technologies in this article, you must have the Java platform installed on your computer.

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Developing a Web Application

Each month, this section will highlight articles to get you familiar with the Java technologies involved in server-side development and the tools you can use to create various types of web applications.

This month, you begin web application programming by jumping right in and creating a small sample application. Using an integrated development environment (IDE) for creating web applications saves a lot of time and provides convenience.

In this tutorial, you use the Sun Java Studio Creator IDE to create and run a simple web application, Hello Web. The example application asks you to input a name and then displays a message that uses that name. At first, you implement this page with an input field. Then you replace the input field with a drop-down list from which the user can choose a name. The drop-down list is populated with names from a database table.

Contents

• Create a Project
• Design the Page
• Add Some Behavior
• Run the Application
• Replace the Text Field With a Drop-Down List
• Bind the Drop-Down List to the Database Table
• Add Some Behavior
• Run the Application
• (Optional) Monitor the Application
• Doing More

Before you use this tutorial, you must have the Sun Java Studio Creator IDE installed on your system.

Next month, you'll learn about the many Java technologies often used in web applications and what their uses are.

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What Is a Component?

It doesn't take a lot of time or a great depth of knowledge to bang out a static HTML page. However, once you start building dynamic and interactive pages, you enter a realm of complexity. You must know how to use JavaScript technology for client-side interaction, and you must write Java platform code and JavaServer Pages (JSP) technology tags for interaction and validation on the server side. Add to that the many inconsistencies with how different browsers display the tags, and your productivity can slow to a halt.

The JavaServer Faces technology-based components that the IDE provides reduce the complexity of building interactive web pages as well as speed up the development cycle. In addition, the IDE enables you to use these components without having to learn the intricacies of JavaServer Faces technology.

Components are tags on steroids. That is, you don't just get the rendered tag, such as a Drop Down List, you get a good-looking tag that is easy to decorate and that generates events, which you can handle using simple Java platform code. For example, the Text Field component works with the JavaServer Faces framework to convert and validate the input as well as to broadcast change and validation events.

Also, with just a couple of clicks, you can bind a component's property to a bean property or to a data provider wrapper for a data source, regardless of whether the data source is a database, web service, Enterprise JavaBeans object, array, or list. By using the binding features, you don't have to write code to fill in the component values, and you don't have to write code to save the component values to the bound objects.

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Introduction to Rich-Client Application Development

This document takes you through the basics of using NetBeans IDE 5.5 to develop rich-client applications on top of the NetBeans platform application framework.

 When you develop applications on top of the NetBeans platform, you are developing on top of the NetBeans IDE's core. All the modules belonging to the IDE that are not relevant to your application are excluded, but those that are useful are kept. By reusing features readily available in the IDE's core, you save yourself a lot of time and energy.

This tutorial is designed to get you going as quickly as possible. You will create and install a simple application on the NetBeans platform application framework. The application allows the user to paint on the screen and save the results:

This initial version is far from a full-fledged paint application, but it demonstrates a very simple case of creating an application on top of the NetBeans platform application framework.

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Sun is offering the award-winning Sun Java Studio Enterprise and Sun Java Studio Creator IDEs at no cost to all developers worldwide who join the Sun Developer Network (SDN).

Get your free tools.

Enhance your developer skills with cutting-edge technologies. Sun's comprehensive offerings enable rapid development of applications and web services. Get trained and certified in the Java platform APIs, learn to use the power of Java technology to create web services.

• Preparation for Java Programming Language Certification
• Unraveling Java Technology
• A Visual Index to the Swing Components
• Download the Java SE Platform
• Sun Java Studio Creator IDE
• Download the NetBeans IDE 5.5