Programming Portlets: From JSR 168 to IBM WebSphere Portal Extensions

Portals have evolved from simple Web applications with multiple links to an enterprise application delivery platform that serves composite applications. In a world where organizations are gearing up with service-oriented architecture (SOA) strategies and re-working existing apps to fit the Web 2.0 programming model, portals are strategic infrastructure components on every CIO’s radar. As companies move toward SOA, portlets become an even hotter topic. Portlets provide the user interface for these services. IBM’s unwavering commitment to open standards such as Java Specification Request (JSR 168) and strong presence in the application server market (IBM WebSphere Application Server) have helped establish WebSphere Portal as a leader among available portal solutions in the market.

Programming Portlets, Second Edition takes developers down a path of understanding all the latest concepts, including SOA, AJAX, and best practices to consider when building a J2EEbased portal. The book offers the reader the tools and information necessary to develop portlets and portal applications in two ways. Part 1 focuses on building portlets that will adhere to the JSR 168 API standard. This allows developers who want to use any JSR 168–compliant portlet container to quickly build quality portlets. Part 2 extends the focus to building JSR 168–compliant portlets for the IBM WebSphere Portal Server and includes information on portlet extensions and WebSphere Portal capabilities that can be leveraged in a portal development effort.

Among the many things you will find inside Programming Portlets, Second Edition:

• Addition of extensive JSR 168 material
• Updates for WebSphere Portal (V6)
• Coverage of new technologies such as IBM WebSphere Portlet Factory and Lotus Workplace Forms Ways to use AJAX in portlets
• Explanation of how portals and portlets fit into SOA
• Method for creating JSR 168–compliant portlets using IBM WebSphere
• IBM WebSphere Portlet Factory, Workplace Forms, and creation of portal services
• Instructions for building complex portlets quickly using Rational Application Developer or WebSphere Portlet Factory
• Use of JavaServerTM Faces in portlets
• Proper use of JSTL with regard to portlets
• Effective integration of Struts in the portal framework
• Ways of inter-portlet communication
• Method to build a portlet from the ground up quickly and effectively
• The best practices of portlet development
• Valuable information resources, including examples of various types of portlets

Ron Lynn has spent the past eleven years working as a software engineer for IBM. He’s been working with WebSphere Portal in various capacities—from everything from evangelist to portal developer—ever since Portal has become generally available. He has led the design and development of Portal applications for IBM and gives lectures, classes, and has written articles on portal and portlet development. He has also written several technical reports for IBM and articles on WSDD.

Joey Bernal is a portal specialist with IBM Software Services for Lotus as part of the Portal Technology Team. He has an extensive background in building portal and web applications. He has led the design and development of Web and client-server applications for some of the world’s largest corporations. He is a frequent speaker and author on WebSphere Portal, focusing on design, development, testing, deployment, and performance of portal applications. He is also the creator of PortalPatterns.org a web site dedicated to open source information around designing and building portals.

Peter Blinstrubas is a Portal Consultant on the World Wide Technical Sales Team of IBM. Peter has worked with WebSphere Portal Server since the initial 1.1 release. Peter has a rich background in application development for systems based on CORBA and J2EE technologies. He frequently lectures on Portal Security, Portlet Development, and Portal Architecture around the world.

Usman Memon is an IT Architect and Services Lead with IBM’s Software Services for Lotus WebSphere Portal Technology Group. Usman has led architecture and design of several enterprise-level portal engagements. Prior to joining IBM/Bowstreet, Usman spent two years as a management consultant with Ernst & Young LLP where he assisted Fortune 500 clients in the insurance and health-care verticals on strategic engagements. Usman is a requested technical speaker and has authored several technical articles related to Portal and Service-Oriented Architecture.

Cayce Marston is a Senior I/T Specialist within the IBM Worldwide Technical Sales team. He joined IBM as part of the PureEdge Solutions acquisition in mid-2005, where he held the position of Solutions Engineering Manager. Prior to joining PureEdge, Cayce has worked as a consultant and software architect in the telecom and financial services industries. His areas of expertise include Workplace Forms, XForms, systems integration and SOA. Cayce has authored a range of forms-related publications including the whitepaper "Extending SOA with XForms" and the IBM Redbook "IBM Workplace Forms: Guide to Building and Integrating a Sample Workplace Forms Application".

Tim Hanis has extensive experience in development and consulting services using WebSphere Portal. He co-authered the book Mastering IBM WebSphere Portal (Wiley 2004) and published several articles on portlet development. He is a senior software engineer at the IBM Research Triangle Park lab in North Carolina and is currently working in the area of Radio Frequency Identification.

Varadarajan (Varad) Ramamoorthy is a portal consultant with IBM Software Services for Lotus as part of the Portal Technology Team. He has been working with portal since the initial release. He has led several successful portal projects by helping the clients with architecture, design, development and deployment. He writes articles frequently on various portal related topics and speaks in conferences.

Stefan Hepper is the responsible architect for the WebSphere Portal, Workplace Client and Server programming model and public APIs and was co-leading the Java Portlet Specification V 1.0 (JSR 168) and is now leading the V 2.0 (JSR 286). Stefan has delivered a number of lectures at international conferences, like JavaOne, published various papers, and was co-author of the book Pervasive Computing (Addison-Wesley 2001). Stefan received a Diploma of Computer Science from the University of Karlsruhe, Germany, and in 1998 he joined the IBM Böblingen Development Laboratory.