This comprehensive five-day course shows Java programmers how to build web applications with JavaServer Faces 2.0. We develop the best-practice concepts that are formalized by the JSF architecture, from model/view/controller to the UI component framework and request-handling lifecycle. Students start to discover that there is a “JSF way” of doing things, and learn not just APIs and tag libraries but the habit of slicing application logic into its most reusable forms: managed beans, event listeners, converters, validators, and more. Students also acquire a firm command of JSF development, learning to work with JSF’s list and table components, building reusable composite components, and building Ajax applications. Simple, high-level Ajax functionality is covered, and students work more directly with JSF’s JavaScript API and resource-management framework.

Objectives

Describe the purpose and scope of the JSF architecture.

Build web applications using JSF’s FacesServlet, faces-config.xml, and the JSF request/response lifecycle.

Use Facelets tag libraries to build JSF views.

Use managed beans to encapsulate form handling and server-side presentation logic.

Implement control logic as JSF event listeners or action methods.

Use validators and converters to implement a validation phase for a JSF application.

Build composite UI fragments or custom components using Facelets.

Build Ajax applications with JSF: client-side behaviors and partial requests and responses followed by DOM updates.

Detailed Outline

1. Overview
   • Java EE and Web Applications
   • Perspectives: Servlets and JSP
   • Perspectives: MVC Frameworks
   • Perspectives: AWT and JFC
   • JSF Value Proposition
   • JSF Configuration
   • Issues with JSP and JSF
   • Facelets
2. Lifecycle
   • The JSF Request/Response Cycle
   • Lifecycle Phases
   • Phase Listeners
   • The FacesContext Class
   • Who Does What
   • Partial Request Cycles
3. UI Components
   • The UIComponent Class
   • Behavioral Interfaces
   • The Core and HTML Tag Libraries
   • Relationship to CSS
   • ID vs. Client ID vs. Label
   • The UISelectItem(s)
   • Navigating the UI Tree
   • The binding Attribute
4. Page Navigation
   • View Selection
   • Navigation Rules
   • Implicit Navigation
   • Problems with POSTback
   • Post/Redirect/Get
   • Support for HTTP GET
   • Conditional Navigation
5. Managed Beans
   • JavaBeans and JSF
   • Backing Beans
   • Configuring Managed Beans
   • @ManagedBean and Related Annotations
   • The Unified Expression Language
   • Value and Method Expressions
   • Implicit Objects
6. Scopes
   • Managed-Bean Scopes
   • Lifecycle Annotations
   • View Parameters
   • Passing Request Parameters
7. Dependency Injection
   • Managed Properties
   • Values, Lists, and Maps
   • Using Dynamic Expressions
   • Dependencies and Bean Scopes
   • The @ManagedProperty Annotation
8. Facelets
   • Migrating from JSP
   • View Definition Languages
   • Facelets
   • Tag Libraries
   • Writing and Using Custom Tags
9. Events and Listeners
   • The JSF Event Model
   • Event Types and Timing
   • Event Queueing
   • ActionEvent and ActionListener
   • Action Methods
   • Connecting Controllers to Beans
   • ValueChangeEvent and ValueChangeListener
   • Deferring Event Processing
   • Limitations of FacesListeners
10. Lists and Tables
    • Working with Collections
    • Why We Don’t Use <c:anything> <c:anyMore>
    • <ui:repeat> vs. <c:forEach>
    • <h:dataTable>
    • Defining Columns and Facets
    • One Command per Row
    • Reading the Row Number
    • Pseudo-Maps
    • Working with Persistent Data
    • Concurrency and Caching
    • Limiting the Scope of Queries
    • Paging
11. Converters
    • The Converter Interface
    • Life of a Datum
    • Standard Converters
    • Custom Converters
    • The @FacesConverter Annotation
    • Timing of Conversion
    • Representing Persistent Objects by ID
12. Validators
    • The Validator Interface
    • Standard Validators
    • Using Regular Expressions
    • Producing Error Messages
    • Message Keys
    • Presenting Error Messages
    • Posting Error Messages from Anywhere
    • Custom Validators
    • The @FacesValidator Annotation
    • Validating Multiple Inputs
    • JSR-303 Support: “Bean Validation”
13. Resources
    • Resource Libraries
    • Deploying Images, Scripts, and Stylesheets
    • Addressing Resources
14. Composites
    • Limitations of Custom Tags
    • Composite Components
    • Encapsulation
    • Deploying and Using Composites
    • Interface and Implementation
    • Impact on the UI Tree
    • Attributes
    • Retargeting
15. Ajax
    • What is Ajax?
    • The XMLHttpRequest Object
    • Ajax and the JSF Lifecycle
    • Using <f:ajax>
    • execute and render Attributes
    • Ajax Listeners
16. The JSF JavaScript API
    • The JSF JavaScript API
    • Triggering Ajax Requests
    • Refining <f:ajax> with Callbacks
    • onevent and onerror Atributes
    • The Ajax Request/Response Process
    • Using Hidden Inputs
    • Other JavaScript Functions