Wednesday, February 12, 2020

Top 3 Servlet and JSP Books for Java Developers - Best of Lot

I often receive a request from my readers and fellow Java developers about book recommendations to learn Servlet and JSP, two of the key web technology for server-side web development in Java. Unfortunately, there are not many good books to learn Servlet and JSP for Java web developers. Despite being the most popular Java Web technology, there are very few good books to learn Servlet and JSP. The one book which everybody will suggest to you is the Head First Servlet and JSP, which is indeed one of the best books but it's outdated now. It doesn't cover the latest development in Servlet API, particularly Servlet 3.0, and also not been updated for the last 7 to 8 years, but considering others, it is still an excellent book to learn Servlet and JSP.

The main advantage of this book is the Head First style itself, which is excellent for beginners. With lots of repetition, bullet points, fireside chats, Head First book, make sure you understand things and not just read them.

Since many readers ask me to suggest good books learn Servlet and JSP, I'll share a couple of title in this book, which I think is relevant and help you to learn Servlet and JSP better. You can combine these books with some good online courses like Java Web Fundamentals by Kevin Jones on Pluralsight to learn better.

Another reason, programmers learn Servlet and JSP is for being an Oracle Certified Web Component Developer like OCPJWCD if you are learning Servlet and JSP with that certification in mind, I suggest you read this study guides, they are excellent from exam perspective, but for real-world development perspective, you need a book which is more focus on examples and how to do things in Servlet and JSP stuff.




Top 3 Books to learn Servlet and JSP for Java developers

Now that we know that Servlet and JSP are an important technology for server-side Java development and crucial for any serious Java backend developer, let's which book you can read to learn Servlet and JSP from scratch. Without any further ado, here are some of the best books you can read to learn Servlet and JSP for the Java web development perspective.


1. Murach's Java Servlets and JSP, 3rd Edition

Murach's books are great books for a beginner in general, and the Murach's Java Servlets and JSP, 3rd Edition meet the expectation. It is currently the best book to learn Servlet and JSP from scratch. It not only teaches you about Servlet and JSP but also about other related web technologies like JSF, HTML5, CSS3, etc.

It gave both text and example to work with and explains how to develop JSP-Servlet based application using NetBeans, Tomcat, and MySQL. For best results, you can also combine this book with the Java Web Fundamentals By Kevin Jones course on Pluralsight. I generally find that learning from a course and book is the best way to learn any new technology.

Top 5 Servlet and JSP books for Java programmers

It also has a couple of sample web applications, which is great as a project for beginners. You will learn the actual real-world programming while building that application. It also teaches about security issues on a web application, essential for real-world stuff like Cross-Site Scripting or SQL injection. Overall, a fantastic book to learn Servlet and JSP in a quick time.




2. Servlet & JSP: A Tutorial, Second Edition 

This is the most up-to-date book to learn Servlet and JSP at the moment. It covers Servlet 3.1 specification and JSP 2.3, which is what you need to develop Java Web application. Like Murach's book, this one also includes a wide range of topics including essential Servlet like ServletContext, Filer, Session Management, FileUpload, Listener to necessary JSP, JSTL, Expression Langage, and Custom tags.

It also covers how to develop a web application using MVC framework like Struts 2 and Spring MVC. It also introduces essential J2EE technology like Java Mail, Java Persistence API (JPA), and Java Database Connectivity (JDBC). Overall, an excellent and complete and most crucial up-to-date book to learn Servlet and JSP.

Best Books to Learn JSP and Sevlet





3. Head First Servlet and JSP

Even though this book doesn't cover Servlet 3.0 API and Asynchronous Servlets, it is still the second-best book to learn Servlet and JSP. It was used to be the best book to learn Servlet and JSP because of its unique style and excellent content, but since it has not been updated for a long time, It loses that title to the first book in this list.

For a complete beginner, I mean, who has never heard of Servlet or JSP, this is still a great book to start with. You can start learning from this book and then read Servlet specification and Java documentation to update yourself with the latest Servlet development.

And, if you need a course to complement this book, I suggest you check out JSP, Servlets, and JDBC for Beginners: Build a Database App course on Udemy. It's a project-based course and I strongly recommend you to do a project to apply the knowledge you have learned in the book. This course will help you to build that project.
Best Books to Learn Servlet and JSP



That's all about the three best books to learn Servlet and JSP. As I said, Head First Servlet JSP is excellent but not most up-to-date hence you should either look at Murach's book or Servlet and JSP by Budi Kurniawan, which covers both Servlet 3.1 and JSP 2.3 along with other essential Java EE technologies. If you come across any good book to learn Servlet and JSP, feel free to suggest as well.

Further Learning
Java Web Fundamentals By Kevin Jones
Spring Framework 5: Beginner to Guru
JSP, Servlets, and JDBC for Beginners: Build a Database App


Other Recommended books and courses for Java Web developers:

Thanks for reading this article, if you like my book recommendations, then please share with your friends and colleagues, it makes a lot of difference. If you have any suggestion, feedback or you think there is a wonderful book which needs to be included in this list, then feel free to drop a comment.

P. S. - If you are looking for some free resources like online courses to learn Servlet and JSP then I also suggest you join Java Servlets and JSP - Build Java EE(JEE) app in 25 Steps course on Udemy. It's a completely free course and all you need is to create an Udemy account to access this course. 

3 comments :

csabee said...

JSP in 2017????? Kill it with fire!

AndySerrato said...

For the Oracle Certified Web Component Developer, yes indeed my friend. In other cases set yourself on fire jejeje

Suckleague said...

Murach's Java Servlets and JSP - you nailed it there, that book was phenomenal.

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