Servlets

Course details

Java Servlets are programs that run on a Web or Application server and act as a middle layer between a request coming from a Web browser or other HTTP client and databases or applications on the HTTP server.

Using Servlets, you can collect input from users through web page forms, present records from a database or another source, and create web pages dynamically.

Java Servlets often serve the same purpose as programs implemented using the Common Gateway Interface (CGI). But Servlets offer several advantages in comparison with the CGI.

• Performance is significantly better.

• Servlets execute within the address space of a Web server. It is not necessary to create a separate process to handle each client request.

• Servlets are platform-independent because they are written in Java.

• Java security manager on the server enforces a set of restrictions to protect the resources on a server machine. So servlets are trusted.

• The full functionality of the Java class libraries is available to a servlet. It can communicate with applets, databases, or other software via the sockets and RMI mechanisms that you have seen already.