This IBM Redbooks publication provides detailed information on how to develop Web applications for IBM WebSphere Application Server Version 4 using a variety of application development tools.

The target audience for this book includes team leaders and developers, who are setting up a new J2EE development project using WebSphere Application Server and related tools. It also includes developers with experience of earlier versions of the WebSphere products, who are looking to migrate to the Version 4 environment.

This book is split into four parts, starting with an introduction, which is followed by parts presenting topics relating to the high-level development activities of analysis and design, code, and unit test. A common theme running through all parts of the book is the use of tooling and automation to improve productivity and streamline the development process.

In Part 1 we introduce the WebSphere programming model, the application development tools, and the example application we use in our discussions.

In Part 2 we cover the analysis and design process, from requirements modeling through object modeling and code generation to the usage of frameworks.

In Part 3 we cover coding and building an application using the Java 2 Software Development Kit, WebSphere Studio Version 4, and VisualAge for Java Version 4. We touch on Software Configuration Management using Rational ClearCase and provide coding guidelines for WebSphere applications. We also cover coding using frameworks, such as Jakarta Struts and WebSphere Business Components.

In Part 4 we cover application testing from simple unit testing through application assembly and deployment to debugging and tracing. We also investigate how unit testing can be automated using JUnit.

In our examples we often refer to the PiggyBank application. This is a very simple J2EE application we created to help illustrate the use of the tools, concepts and principles we describe throughout the book.

Part 1. Introduction

Chapter 1. WebSphere programming model

Chapter 2. Tools overview

Chapter 3. About the PiggyBank application

Part 2. Analysis and design

Chapter 4. Overview of development activities

Chapter 5. Requirements modeling

Chapter 6. Modeling and code generation

Chapter 7. Designing with frameworks

Part 3. Coding the application

Chapter 8. Setting up a development environment

Chapter 9. Development using the Java 2 Software Development Kit

Chapter 10. Development using WebSphere Studio

Chapter 11. Development using VisualAge for Java

Chapter 12. Development with frameworks

Chapter 13. Guidelines for coding WebSphere applications

Chapter 14. Software Configuration Management

Part 4. Unit testing the application

Chapter 15. Assembling the application

Chapter 16. Deploying to the test environment

Chapter 17. Debugging the application

Chapter 18. Automating unit testing using JUnit

Part 5. Appendixes

Appendix A. Additional material