A map of the Java Universe please
843789Jun 23 2010 — edited Jun 24 2010Java is no longer a simple thing. There are too many things that are interrelated and that have cropped up to fill a niche' need.
What I would like is a map of the Java Universe that shows and explains the relationship of all the Java stuff and buzz words.
For example, there is javascript and the java language and the JVM's, that's simple. javascript satisfies a need within the WWW browser world.
But, then there are applets, what is their relationship to javascripts? and why do they exist?
Servlets, the server side of an applet, right?
But then there are also JSP's, which are not the same thing as a servlet, right? or are they? and why the difference if there is one?
Now, I can write a simple Java program with the "main" method and it will run on a specific server as a stand alone application, that is simple enough.
But, EE does not produce the same kind of "application" does it !?
To support EE there are all sorts of application servers -- JBOSS, WebSphere, etc. -- but then we start talking about containers.
Where does TomCat fit into this?
it runs on top of Apache, right?
Is there a "higher" level thing for EE?
So, there are web servers, like Apache and IIS, and web browsers, like NetScape, Mosaic, IE, and FireFox.
It is my understanding that WebSphere is built on top of or over or uses Apache, does that make it a peer to TomCat?
While I may be referencing specific app and web servers, there are probably generic categorical names for these things in terms of Java.
Next up, Java Beans and "components".
It has gotten to be a mess and trying to find unifying documentation that shows and explains all this stuff is, ... , well, I'm not finding it.
I don't want to have to read all the specfications for all this stuff to piece it together myself.
I also don't want to have to buy all the books to find the one that already pieces it together, or to discover there isn't one (I hope there is something somewhere).
Hasn't someone else already provided an elegant "map" with appropriate annotations?