HTTP Server Programming

HTTP Fundamentals

 Introduction to HTTP
 HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is the foundation of data
communication on the World Wide Web.
 It is a request-response protocol used by web browsers and web
servers to exchange data and information.
 HTTP Request and Response
 An HTTP request is made by a client (usually a web browser) to
request resources from a web server.
 An HTTP response is sent by the server to fulfill the client's request.
 HTTP Methods
 HTTP requests use methods like GET, POST, PUT, DELETE to
define the type of request.
 GET is used to retrieve data, POST to send data to be processed,
PUT to update data, and DELETE to remove data.
 Servlet Programming

 Introduction to Servlets
 A servlet is a Java-based technology for building web
applications.
 Servlets run on the server-side and handle client requests and
generate dynamic responses.
 Servlet API
 The Java Servlet API provides a framework for developing
servlets.
 It includes classes and interfaces for handling servlet requests
and responses.
 Creating a Servlet
 To create a servlet, you need to extend the
javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet class and override its doGet or
doPost method.
 EXAMPLE

public class MyServlet extends HttpServlet {

@Override
protected void doGet(HttpServletRequest request,
HttpServletResponse response)
throws ServletException, IOException {
// Servlet logic here
}
}
 Web Deployment Descriptor (web.xml)

 The web.xml file is an XML configuration file that maps

URLs to servlets.

<servlet>
<servlet-name>MyServlet</servlet-name>
<servlet-class>com.example.MyServlet</servlet-class>
</servlet>
<servlet-mapping>
<servlet-name>MyServlet</servlet-name>
<url-pattern>/myservlet</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>
 The Life Cycle of a
Servlet; Using Tomcat for Servlet Development

 Initialization
 When a servlet is first loaded, its init method is called.
 You can perform one-time initialization tasks in this method.
 Request Handling
 For each client request, the servlet's service method is called.
 The service method dispatches the request to the appropriate HTTP
method (doGet, doPost, etc.).
 Destruction
 When the servlet container decides to unload the servlet, the destroy
method is called.
 You can perform cleanup tasks in this method.
 Request and Response Objects
 Servlets receive two important objects: HttpServletRequest for the request
and HttpServletResponse for the response.
 You can use these objects to access client data and send responses.
 Using Tomcat for Servlet Development

 Apache Tomcat
 Apache Tomcat is an open-source web server and servlet container.
 It is widely used for running Java-based web applications, including servlets.
 Setting up Tomcat
 Download and install Tomcat from the Apache Tomcat website.
 Configure your web application by placing servlet classes and the web.xml file in the
appropriate directories.
 Start Tomcat and deploy your web application.
 Accessing Servlets
 Servlets are accessed using a URL that maps to their URL pattern defined in
web.xml.
 For example, if a servlet is mapped to /myservlet, you can access it at
http://localhost:8080/yourapp/myservlet.
 Tomcat Manager
 Tomcat provides a web-based manager application that allows you to deploy,
undeploy, and manage your web applications.
 You can access it at http://localhost:8080/manager/html.
 Servlets - Examples

 Servlets are Java classes which service HTTP

requests and implement
the javax.servlet.Servlet interface.
 Web application developers typically write servlets
that extend javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet, an
abstract class that implements the Servlet interface
and is specially designed to handle HTTP requests.
// Import required java libraries
import java.io.*;
import javax.servlet.*;
import javax.servlet.http.*;
// Extend HttpServlet class
public class HelloWorld extends HttpServlet {
private String message;
public void init() throws ServletException {
// Do required initialization
message = "Hello World";
} public void doGet(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse
response)
throws ServletException, IOException {
// Set response content type
response.setContentType("text/html");
// Actual logic goes here.
PrintWriter out = response.getWriter();
out.println("<h1>" + message + "</h1>");
} public void destroy() { // do nothing. }
}
 Servlet Deployment

 By default, a servlet application is located at the path

<Tomcat-installationdirectory>/webapps/ROOT and the
class file would reside in <Tomcat-
installationdirectory>/webapps/ROOT/WEB-
INF/classes.
 If you have a fully qualified class name
of com.myorg.MyServlet, then this servlet class must
be located in WEB-
INF/classes/com/myorg/MyServlet.class.
 For now, let us copy HelloWorld.class into <Tomcat-
installationdirectory>/webapps/ROOT/WEB-
INF/classes and create following entries in web.xml file
located in <Tomcat-installation-
directory>/webapps/ROOT/WEB-INF/
 CONTD

<servlet>
<servlet-name>HelloWorld</servlet-name>
<servlet-class>HelloWorld</servlet-class>
</servlet>

<servlet-mapping>
<servlet-name>HelloWorld</servlet-name>
<url-pattern>/HelloWorld</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>
 Above entries to be created inside <web-app>...</web-
app> tags available in web.xml file. There could be
various entries in this table already available, but never
mind.
 You are almost done, now let us start tomcat server using
<Tomcat-installationdirectory>\bin\startup.bat (on
Windows) or <Tomcat-
installationdirectory>/bin/startup.sh (on Linux/Solaris
etc.) and finally
type http://localhost:8080/HelloWorld in the
browser's address box. If everything goes fine, you would
get the following result
 The Javax.servlet Package

 The Java Servlet API is an acronym for Application

Programming Interface (API) that is used on a server
to interact with the other pages.
 It communicates with the clients through a request
and response format or system in a servlet container.
An application programming interface (API) for
servlets is a group of predefined packages, classes,
and interfaces that have been written, along with
their servlet methods and constructors.
 It is a mechanism for interaction between two web
application components and servlet functions.
 What is Servlet API?

 Servlets are Java pieces of code on a web server or server-side that

can handle Java.
 We can manage the request from the remote server, process and
operate the servlet request, make the servlet response, and then
return the web page or server.
 We can also use Servlets to make several web or Java-based
applications. It must utilize the Servlet API, which includes all
virtual interfaces and classes, to make Java Servlets.
 Servlet API comes in two packages, which are:
 javax.servlet
 javax.servlet.http
 The servlet pages or web container uses many interfaces and classes
from the “javax.servlet” package. The “javax.servlet.http” package
has classes and interfaces that manage http requests.
Classes available in javax.servlet package

Classes Description
GenericServlet Defines a generic, protocol-independent
servlet.
ServletInputStream Provides an input stream for reading
binary data from a client request,
including an efficient readLine method
for reading data one line at a time.
ServletOutputStream Provides an output stream for sending
binary data to the client.
ServletContextEvent This is the event class for notifications
about changes to the servlet context of a
web application.
ServletContextAttributeEvent This is the event class for notifications
about changes to the attributes of the
servlet context of a web application.
ServletRequestEvent Events of this kind indicate lifecycle
events for a ServletRequest.
ServletRequestAttributeEvent This is the event class for notifications
of changes to the attributes of the
servlet request in an application.
 package

Interface Description
Servlet Defines methods that all servlets must
implement.
ServletConfig A servlet configuration object used by
a servlet container to pass information
to a servlet during initialization.
ServletContext Defines a set of methods that a servlet
uses to communicate with its servlet
container, for example, to get the
MIME type of a file, dispatch requests,
or write to a log file.
ServletRequest Defines an object to provide client
request information to a servlet.
ServletResponse Defines an object to assist a servlet in
sending a response to the client.
RequestDispatcher Defines an object that receives
requests from the client and sends
them to any resource (such as a
servlet, HTML file, or JSP file) on the
server.
 javax.servlet.http

 This package describe and define the contracts

between a servlet class running under the HTTP
protocol and the runtime environment provided for
an instance of such a class by a conforming servlet
container.
Classes available in javax.servlet package

Classes Description
Cookie Creates a cookie, a small amount of information sent by a servlet to a Web
browser, saved by the browser, and later sent back to the server.

HttpServlet Provides an abstract class to be subclassed to create an HTTP servlet suitable

for a Web site.

HttpServletRequestWrapper Provides a convenient implementation of the HttpServletRequest interface

that can be subclassed by developers wishing to adapt the request to a Servlet.

HttpServletResponseWrapper Provides a convenient implementation of the HttpServletResponse interface

that can be subclassed by developers wishing to adapt the response from a
Servlet.

HttpSessionBindingEvent Events of this type are either sent to an object that implements
HttpSessionBindingListener when it is bound or unbound from a session, or
to a HttpSessionAttributeListener that has been configured in the
deployment descriptor when any attribute is bound, unbound or replaced in a
session.

HttpSessionEvent This is the class representing event notifications for changes to sessions
within a web application.
 package

Interface Description
HttpServletRequest Extends the ServletRequest interface to provide
request information for HTTP servlets.
HttpServletResponse Extends the ServletResponse interface to provide
HTTP-specific functionality in sending a response.
HttpSession Provides a way to identify a user across more than
one page request or visit to a Web site and to store
information about that user.
HttpSessionActivationListener Objects that are bound to a session may listen to
container events notifying them that sessions will
be passivated and that session will be activated.

HttpSessionAttributeListener This listener interface can be implemented in order

to get notifications of changes to the attribute lists
of sessions within this web application.

HttpSessionBindingListener Causes an object to be notified when it is bound to

or unbound from a session.
HttpSessionListener Implementations of this interface are notified of
changes to the list of active sessions in a web
application.
 Reading Servlet
Parameter

 Reading Form Data using Servlet

 Servlets handles form data parsing automatically using
the following methods depending on the situation-
 getParameter() − You call request.getParameter()
method to get the value of a form parameter.
 getParameterValues() − Call this method if the
parameter appears more than once and returns multiple
values, for example checkbox.
 getParameterNames() − Call this method if you want
a complete list of all parameters in the current request.
 Handling HTTP Requests and
Responses

 HttpServlet class provides specialized methods

that handle the various types of HTTP requests. A
servlet developer typically overrides one of these
methods. These methods are doDelete( ), doGet(
), doHead( ), doOptions( ), doPost( ), doPut(
), and doTrace( ). However, the GET and POST
requests are commonly used when handling form
input.
 doGet and doPost are the commonly used methods
of HTTPServlet
Handling Http Request & Responses
S.N. Method and Description
GET The GET method is used to retrieve information from the given
1 server using a given URI. Requests using GET should only retrieve
data and should have no other effect on the data.
HEAD Same as GET, but transfers the status line and header section
2
only.
POST A POST request is used to send data to the server, for
3
example, customer information, file upload, etc. using HTML forms.
PUT Replaces all current representations of the target resource with
4
the uploaded content.
DELETE Removes all current representations of the target resource
5
given by a URI.
CONNECT Establishes a tunnel to the server identified by a given
6
URI.
OPTIONS Describes the communication options for the target
7
resource.
TRACE Performs a message loop-back test along the path to the
8
target resource.
 Handling Http Request & Responses

 Get
 Its main job is to get some resource From server based on client request
 Total number of characters that get can carry to server is very less/limited.
 This appends URL with client request data
 One can Cache the requests of this type
 Requests parameters remain in browsing history
 Because of above limitations, GET is not supposed to used for complex and sensitive
requests
 Post
 Its main job is to send client data and get the resource from server based on client
request.
 Post can handle more characters that get can carry to server is very less/limited.
 This does not append client request data to URL
 These requests cannot be cached
 These do not remain in browsing history
 This is more preferred for complex and sensitive requests (like login)
 Tracking

 Cookies
 Cookies are small pieces of information that are
sent in response from the web server to the
client. Cookies are the simplest technique used for
storing client state.
 Cookies are stored on client's computer. They have
a lifespan and are destroyed by the client browser at
the end of that lifespan.
 Servlet: Cookies API

 Cookies are created using Cookie class present in

Servlet API. Cookies are added to response object
using the addCookie() method. This method sends
cookie information over the HTTP response
stream. getCookies() method is used to access the
cookies that are added to response object.
Example
 Session Tracking

 Session Tracking tracks a user’s requests and

maintains their state. It is a mechanism used to store
information on specific users and in order to
recognize these user’s requests when they connect to
the web server.
 ILLUSTRATAION

If session tracking is not used, request 2 is treated as a new request without

the server recognizing that it is from the same use
 Types of Cookies

 There are two types of cookies. They are as following:

 Session
 Persistent
 1) Session cookies:
 The session cookies do not have any expiration time. It is
present in the browser memory. When the web browser
is closed then the cookies are destroyed automatically.
 2) Persistent Cookies:
 The Persistent cookies have an expiration time. It is
stored in the hard drive of the user and it is destroyed
based on the expiry time.