Servlets Interview Questions And Answers - DoAnswers.com

Servlets are the Java platform technology of choice for extending and enhancing Web servers. Servlets provide a component-based, platform-independent method for building Web-based applications, without the performance limitations of CGI programs. And unlike proprietary server extension mechanisms (such as the Netscape Server API or Apache modules), servlets are server- and platform-independent. This leaves you free to select a "best of breed" strategy for your servers, platforms, and tools.

Servlets have access to the entire family of Java APIs, including the JDBC API to access enterprise databases. Servlets can also access a library of HTTP-specific calls and receive all the benefits of the mature Java language, including portability, performance, reusability, and crash protection.

Today servlets are a popular choice for building interactive Web applications. Third-party servlet containers are available for Apache Web Server, Microsoft IIS, and others. Servlet containers are usually a component of Web and application servers, such as BEA WebLogic Application Server, IBM WebSphere, Sun Java System Web Server, Sun Java System Application Server, and others.

You might want to check out the latest information on JavaServer Pages (JSP) technology. JSP technology is an extension of the servlet technology created to support authoring of HTML and XML pages. It makes it easier to combine fixed or static template data with dynamic content. Even if you're comfortable writing servlets, there are several compelling reasons to investigate JSP technology as a complement to your existing work.

Servelt can invoke other Web resources in two ways: indirect and direct.

Indirect Way : Servlet will return the resultant HTML to the browser which will point to another Servlet (Web resource)

Direct Way : We can call another Web resource (Servelt / Jsp) from Servelt program itself, by using RequestDispatcher object.

You can get this object using getRequestDispatcher("URL") method. You can get this object from either a request or a Context.

Example :
RequestDispatcher dispatcher = request.getRequestDispatcher("/jspsample.jsp");
if (dispatcher != null)
dispatcher.forward(request, response);
}

We need to use iText. A open source library for java. Please refer sourceforge site for sample servlet examples.

A servlet can handle multiple requests concurrently, and can synchronize requests. Servlets can forward requests to other servers and servlets. Thus servlets can be used to balance load among several servers.

7. What is the difference between the getRequestDispatcher(String path) ServletRequest interface and ServletContext interface?

The getRequestDispatcher(String path) method of ServletRequest interface accepts parameter the path to the resource to be included or forwarded to, which can be relative to the request of the calling servlet. If the path begins with a "/" it is interpreted as relative to the current context root.

The getRequestDispatcher(String path) method of ServletContext interface cannot accepts relative paths. All path must sart with a "/" and are interpreted as relative to curent context root. If the resource is not available, or if the server has not implemented a RequestDispatcher object for that type of resource, getRequestDispatcher will return null. Your servlet should be prepared to deal with this condition.

8. What is the difference between using getSession(true) and getSession(false) methods?

getSession(true) - This method will check whether already a session is existing for the user. If a session is existing, it will return that session object, Otherwise it will create new session object and return taht object.

getSession(false) - This method will check existence of session. If session exists, then it returns the reference of that session object, if not, this methods will return null.

Servlet is a script, which resides and executes on server side, to create dynamic HTML. In servlet programming we will use java language. A servlet can handle multiple requests concurrently

Using ServletContext, We can access data from its environment. Servlet context is common to all Servlets so all Servlets share the information through ServeltContext.