Q10) What is an expression tag in JSP pages?
Ans) An expression tag contains a scripting language expression that is evaluated, converted to a String, and inserted where the expression appears in the JSP file. Because the value of an expression is converted to a String, you can use an expression within a text in a JSP file. Like
<%= someexpression %><%= (new java.util.Date()).toLocaleString() %>You cannot use a semicolon to end an expression.
Q11) What is the difference between forward and sendRedirect?
Ans) When you invoke a forward request, the request is sent to another resource on the server, without the client being informed that a different resource is going to process the request. This process occurs completley with in the web container. When a sendRedirtect method is invoked, it causes the web container to return to the browser indicating that a new URL should be requested. Since the browser issues a completely new request any objects that are stored as request attributes before the redirect occurs will be lost. This extra round trip a redirect is slower than forward.
Q12) What are implicit objects? List them?
Ans) Certain objects that are available for the use in JSP documents without being declared first. These objects are parsed by the JSP engine and inserted into the generated servlet. The implicit objects are listed below:
request
response
pageContext
session
application
out
config
page
exceptionQ13) How do I prevent the output of my JSP or Servlet pages from being cached by the browser?
Ans) You will need to set the appropriate HTTP header attributes to prevent the dynamic content output by the JSP page from being cached by the browser. Just execute the following scriptlet at the beginning of your JSP pages to prevent them from being cached at the browser. You need both the statements to take care of some of the older browser versions.
<%response.setHeader("Cache-Control","no-store"); //HTTP 1.1
response.setHeader("Pragma\","no-cache"); //HTTP 1.0
response.setDateHeader ("Expires", 0); //prevents caching at the proxy server%>Q14) How to implement a thread-safe JSP page? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using it?
Ans) JSPs can be thread-safe by having them implement the SingleThreadModel interface. This is done by adding the directive
<%@ page isThreadSafe="false" %>within JSP page. With this, instead of a single instance of the servlet generated for JSP page loaded in memory, the container will have N instances of the servlet loaded and initialized, with the service method of each instance effectively synchronized. You can typically control the number of instances (N) that are instantiated for all servlets implementing SingleThreadModel through the admin screen for your JSP engine. More importantly, avoid using the tag for variables. If you do use this tag, then you should set isThreadSafe to true, as mentioned above. Otherwise, all requests to that page will access those variables, causing a nasty race condition. SingleThreadModel is not recommended for normal use. There are many pitfalls, including the example above of not being able to use <%! %>. You should try really hard to make them thread-safe the old fashioned way: by making them thread-safe.
Q15) Why to use the HttpServlet Init method to perform expensive operations that need only be done once?
Ans) Because the servlet init() method is invoked when servlet instance is loaded, it is the perfect location to carry out expensive operations that need only be performed during initialization. By definition, the init() method is thread-safe. The results of operations in the HttpServlet.init() method can be cached safely in servlet instance variables, which become read-only in the servlet service method.
Q16) Why is it not a good practice to create HttpSessions in JSPs by default?
Ans) By default, JSP files create HttpSessions. This is in compliance with J2EETM to facilitate
the use of JSP implicit objects, which can be referenced in JSP source and tags without
explicit declaration. HttpSession is one of those objects. If you do not use HttpSession
in your JSP files then you can save some performance overhead with the following JSP
page directive:
<%@ page session="false"%>Q17) What are the standard actions available in JSP?
Ans) The standard actions available in JSP are as follows:
<jsp:include>: It includes a response from a servlet or a JSP page into the current page. It differs from an include directive in that it includes a resource at request processing time, whereas the include directive includes a resource at translation time.
<jsp:forward>: It forwards a response from a servlet or a JSP page to another page.
<jsp:useBean>: It makes a JavaBean available to a page and instantiates the bean.
<jsp:setProperty>: It sets the properties for a JavaBean.
<jsp:getProperty>: It gets the value of a property from a JavaBean component and adds it to the response.
<jsp:param>: It is used in conjunction with <jsp:forward>;, <jsp:, or plugin>; to add a parameter to a request. These parameters are provided using the name-value pairs.
<jsp:plugin>: It is used to include a Java applet or a JavaBean in the current JSP page.