About Web Applications

   A web application is an application written for the Internet, including those built with Java technologies such as JavaServer Pages and servlets, as well as those built with non-Java technologies such as CGI and Perl. Web Applications often include frameworks such as JavaServer Faces, Visual Web JavaServer Faces, and Struts.

 You can create a web application in two ways:

•       By writing and editing Java source code in the Source Editor. Configure the application yourself. Add the JavaServer Faces, Struts, or Spring Web framework to improve the design of your application.
•       By using Visual Web JSF drag and drop functionality. Add components to an application by dragging them to the Visual Designer. Connect to data sources by dragging a database table onto a component.

A web application roughly corresponds to the J2EE term web application module. This is a deployable unit that consists of one or more web components, other resources, and web application deployment descriptors, contained in a hierarchy of directories and files in a standard web application format.        

About the Visual Web JSF Framework

The Visual Web JavaServer Faces framework is part of Sun's JavaServer Faces (JSF) technology (JSR-127), the standard Java API for building user interface components in web applications. JSF defines a component-based web application framework, enabling vendors and open source projects to create sophisticated user-interface widgets that you can then develop to create easy-to-use web applications, with portability between tools and application servers.

The Visual Web JSF framework is based on drag and drop functionality and provides a more visual approach to web application design.


-Wagner R. Santos