The Enterprise Java™ platform, Java EE 6, is getting a facelift … JavaServer™ Faces (JSF™) 2, is a big part of what’s new in Java EE 6! JSF 2, a significant upgrade from JSF 1.2, now includes Facelets and integration/use options with a variety of web frameworks, including the popular JBoss® Seam and even the Spring Framework.

Beginning JSF™ 2 APIs and JBoss® Seam gets you up to speed with the new JSF 2.x API features and how they’re implemented using the latest Seam web framework. This quick–start tutorial is the fastest way to get started on JSF 2, Facelets, and Seam, and with it you’ll take the most useful features in the frameworks and apply them using best practices.

You’ll learn to create and enhance an eShop using practical methods, and can repurpose the template for your own personal and professional projects.

What you’ll learn

• Get started with the new JSF 2 and its features, including forms, validations, and more.
• Create an eShop.
• Build interactive pages with Ajax.
• Incorporate the new JSF 2 feature, Facelets, as your standard view definition framework.
• Provide a common layout using Facelets.
• Apply and fine–tune your eShop application using the popular JSF–based web framework, JBoss Seam.

Who is this book for

This book is primarily for Java developers who need to develop an application in JSF but are just learning it. It also can be for Java developers who know JSF but would like to learn Facelets and Seam.

About the Apress Beginning Series

The Beginning series from Apress is the right choice to get the information you need to land that crucial entry–level job. These books will teach you a standard and important technology from the ground up because they are explicitly designed to take you from “novice to professional.” You’ll start your journey by seeing what you need to know—but without needless theory and filler. You’ll build your skill set by learning how to put together real–world projects step by step. So whether your goal is your next career challenge or a new learning opportunity, the Beginning series from Apress will take you there—it is your trusted guide through unfamiliar territory!

About the Author

Kent Ka Iok Tong is the manager of the IT department of the Macau Productivity and Technology Transfer Center. With a master’s degree in computer science from the New South Wales University, Sydney, Australia, and having won the “Macao Programming Competition (Open Category)” in 1992, Kent has been involved in professional software development, training, and project management since 1993. He is the author of several popular books on web technologies including Essential JSF, Facelets and Seam, Enjoying Web Development with Tapestry, Enjoying Web Development with Wicket, and Developing Web Services with Apache Axis 2.

Pro JavaScript RIA Techniques: Best Practices, Performance, and Presentation shows you how you can build JavaScript RIAs (Rich Internet Applications) with compelling user interfaces and great performance.

With the best practices and optimization techniques you’ll learn in this book, you can optimize performance without sacrificing a rich user interface. Using a combination of innovative ideas and intelligent use of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and plug–ins, this book shows you how to make decisions based on best web standard development practices and real–world browser data.

Through practical examples, you’ll see how to optimize both design and performance with an eye toward future enhancements and efficient maintenance.

• Starting with the essential principles and techniques of semantic markup, build efficient, responsive web applications based on web standard best practices and real–world experience.
• Apply practical techniques and see how to reuse examples of broadly relevant page components to improve the interface and performance of existing sites.
• Explore ways to push the boundaries of the possible with existing browser technology.

What you“ll learn

• Best practices for building web applications using JavaScript and web standards
• Optimization techniques for high performance in browsers
• How to create richer user interfaces
• Advanced Ajax techniques
• How to optimize graphic performance by drawing in the browser with SVG
• Integrating accessibility into rich web applications

Who is this book for

This book is aimed at web developers and designers who need to improve the user experience of their sites by making their code more efficient and their sites more responsive, and incorporating more complexity all at the same time. It is for Internet professionals ready to go beyond Web 2.0 to a newer, more streamlined vision of rich user experiences.

About the Apress Pro Series

The Apress Pro series books are practical, professional tutorials to keep you on and moving up the professional ladder.

You have gotten the job, now you need to hone your skills in these tough competitive times. The Apress Pro series expands your skills and expertise in exactly the areas you need. Master the content of a Pro book, and you will always be able to get the job done in a professional development project. Written by experts in their field, Pro series books from Apress give you the hard–won solutions to problems you will face in your professional programming career.

Secrets of the Oracle Database is the definitive guide to undocumented and partially documented features of the Oracle database server. Covering useful but little–known features from Oracle9i Database through Oracle Database 11g, this book will improve your efficiency as an Oracle database administrator or developer. Norbert Debes shines the light of day on features that help you master more difficult administrative, tuning, and troubleshooting tasks than you ever thought possible.

Finally, in one place, you have at your fingertips knowledge that previously had to be acquired through years of experience and word of mouth through knowing the right people. What Norbert writes is accurate, well–tested, well–illustrated by clear examples, and sure to improve your ability to make an impact in your day–to–day work with Oracle.

What you’ll learn

• Take advantage of Oracle’s built–in Perl DBI distribution to write applications for monitoring, benchmarking, data extraction, and more.
• Interpret the undocumented, extended trace file format to pinpoint performance problems that TKPROF reports overlook and obscure.
• Get the most out of Statspack by using undocumented report formatting options, accessing its scarcely–documented repository, and integrating with SQL Trace.
• Take control of your instance through the ill–documented ORADEBUG command, enabling you to control processes, trace SQL statements, dump process state, monitor wait events and the call stack, and much more.
• Leverage undocumented features in Oracle’s built–in scheduler to better automate your workload.
• Take full advantage of Transparent Application Failover and Cluster Database Services in a Real Application Cluster environment.

Who is this book for?

Secrets of the Oracle Database is written for database administrators and developers well past the beginner level who desire to take full advantage of the power the Oracle platform has to offer. The book is by no means an introductory book. Readers should already be familiar and comfortable with SQL and PL/SQL, and should have a good grounding in Oracle database architecture.

About the Author

Norbert Debes has more than 13 years experience as an Oracle database administrator. He holds a master's degree in computer science from the University of Erlangen, Germany, and is an Oracle8, Oracle8i, and Oracle9i certified professional Oracle database administrator. For over 6 years, he held different positions and technical roles at Oracle Germany. He was a team leader in Oracle Support Services, and a technical account manager in Strategic Alliances. In his last role at Oracle, Norbert was responsible for promoting Real Application Clusters on a technical level. During his tenure, he contributed to the Oracle9i SQL Reference, the Real Application Clusters manual set, and to various Real Application Clusters training materials.

Right from the beginning of his quest in the Oracle database management system, Norbert always wanted to know exactly how things worked. He would not be satisfied with superficial explanations, but demanded evidence. His passion to dig deeper served him well in acquiring extensive knowledge of the Oracle database, and occasionally makes him a restless researcher who often ends up working from dusk until dawn when captured by "the flow."

In his spare time, Norbert likes to hike, snowboard, play basketball, and read nonfiction on topics such as the emotional brain. Furthermore, he is a passionate analog and digital photographer. Having been intrigued by the vibrancy of stereoscopic (i.e., three-dimensional) capture for 20 years, he rejoices in his recent acquisition of a stereo camera.

Get ready to move beyond the stage of simply ripping audio from CDs to the more creative ends of digital music production. The sheer volume and variety of computer-based production techniques can often seem daunting. "Digital Music Making for Teens" eases beginning musicians through that first crucial step into the larger world of digital production as it guides you through the process of building musical productions. This comprehensive, hands-on book covers not only the big picture, but also dives deep into each task, showing you how to use multiple tools to get the job done. Combine your need for artistic expression with a solid education and start your music making off on the right track.

About the Author

Andrew Hagerman began his musical life at the early age of eight as an aspiring tubist. Excelling at his craft, he studied at the prestigious Northwestern University in Chicago. During his time at Northwestern, he also discovered a passion for position and arranging, creating works for orchestra, chamber ensemble and even jazz and rock bands. MIDI and computer music were in their infancy at this time, and Andy immediately recognized the usefulness of music technology in aiding the creative process. Through his professional life, Andy has continued to explore his diverse interests. As a performer, he has performed in numerous ensembles of all types, and even enjoyed many years of playing at Disneyland, Walt Disney World, and Tokyo Disneyland. As a composer, he has been very active in the creation planetarium and science center soundtracks, and his work can be heard worldwide, including the renowned American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Finally, as! a teacher, he has shared the benefit of his many years in the industry with others as they embark on careers of their own. Presently the Associate Course Director of Advanced Audio Workstations at Full Sail Real World Education in Winter Park, Florida, Mr. Hagerman coordinates and guides the curriculum of what is arguably the largest digital audio workstation lab environment in the world. He also remains active in composition and production with Singularity Arts, which serves the worldwide planetarium community.

Photoshop Elements has evolved through several generations to become a sophisticated photo editor. What was once a low-end, consumer-grade product is now a tool for novice photo editors, amateur photographers, and professionals alike.

Elements shines on its own turf and is distinguished from Adobe Photoshop in many ways. Not only a program for improving image quality, Elements is a complex software application that offers you many different editing tools for designing a variety of photo creations and sharing your photos in a number of ways. Of course, it also gives you all the standard editing features you need for, say, controlling image brightness or working with color correction.

Why should you buy Elements (and, ultimately, this book)? The range of people who can benefit from using Elements is wide and includes a vast audience. Elements has something for everyone — from beginning image editors to intermediate users to more advanced amateurs and professionals. We’ll even stick our necks out a little and suggest that many Photoshop users can benefit greatly by adding Elements to their software tool cabinets. Why? Because Elements offers some wonderful creation and sharing tools that Photoshop hasn’t yet dreamed of supporting. For example, in Photoshop Elements 7, you can create postcards, greeting cards, calendars, and photo albums with just a few mouse clicks. You can place orders with online service centers that professionally print your photo creations. All these opportunities are available in Elements, and we cover these and many more creation ideas in Book IX.

If you have basic programming experience, this book is your ideal guide for writing games using Visual Basic .NET and Managed DirectX 9. This Second Edition includes almost entirely new coverage. While coverage of game design and 2D artwork remain, this edition includes more detailed coverage of the DirectX game code and utilizes the free Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition compiler. A true beginner's guide, this book covers each essential step for creating your own complete role playing game, including a character creation screen and a combat system. This book serves as a comprehensive introductory guide for readers who are new to programming or new to programming for games.

About the Author

Jonathan S. Harbour is an Associate Professor of Game Development at the University of Advancing Technology in Tempe, Arizona. His current game project is Starflight: The Lost Colony (www.starflightgame.com). He lives in Arizona with his wife, Jennifer, four children (Jeremiah, Kayleigh, Kaitlyn, Kourtney), a dog (Lucy), a cat (Missy), and six temperamental computers (ages 1 to 8). He can be reached at www.jharbour.com.

This book provides instruction on how to use the OrCAD design suite to design and manufacture printed circuit boards. The primary goal is to show the reader how to design a PCB using OrCAD Capture and OrCAD Editor. Capture is used to build the schematic diagram of the circuit, and Editor is used to design the circuit board so that it can be manufactured.

The book is written for both students and practicing engineers who need in-depth instruction on how to use the software, and who need background knowledge of the PCB design process.

KEY FEATURES:
* Beginning to end coverage of the printed circuit board design process. Information is presented in the exact order a circuit and PCB are designed
* Over 400 full color illustrations, including extensive use of screen shots from the software, allow readers to learn features of the product in the most realistic manner possible
* Straightforward, realistic examples present the how and why the designs work, providing a comprehensive toolset for understanding the OrCAD software
* Introduces and follows IEEE, IPC, and JEDEC industry standards for PCB design.
* Unique chapter on Design for Manufacture covers padstack and footprint design, and component placement, for the design of manufacturable PCB's.
*FREE CD containing the OrCAD demo version and design files

Create lush terrains and atmospheres in Vue and enhance your knowledge of all the features in this software such as lighting, cameras, and Python scripting. Ami and Vladimir Chopine, from GeetAtPlay.com guide you through 17 stand-alone tutorials, each with a different focus on the key components of Vue. The companion website includes brand new video tutorials from Geekatplay as well as materials, atmosphere settings, image maps, models, project files, and completed images and animations.

* This officially certified guide takes you through the basic principles to lay a foundation for more advanced concepts such as the function editor, the new Metanodes, software integration, and Python scripting
*Companion website includes new video tutorials from GeekAtPlay.com, as well as project files, images, atmosphere settings, materials, models, image maps, and animations
*Written by Ami & Vladimir Chopine - the founders of GeekAtPlay.com

script.aculo.us is a JavaScript library that provides dynamic visual effects, user interface controls, and robust AJAX features. It is to client-side what PHP is to server-side - powerful, simple, complete fun, and above all, a MUST! As developers, we all dream of building applications that users can instantly fall in love with and get productive. Simple and niche applications are the future of web applications. script.aculo.us when used with PHP as a server-side scripting language, can give us a new way of looking at things and changing the way we work.

script.aculo.us provides you with easy-to-use, cross-browser user interface JavaScript libraries to enhance your web sites and web applications. It provides dynamic visual effects, user interface controls, and robust AJAX features. This book covers all aspects for a developer to learn and master the art of using advanced JavaScript also referred to as 2.0 aspects in PHP web applications. script.aculo.us is an effective and powerful add-on to the Prototype library and when combined with PHP, it can make a lot of difference. The difference every developer dreams of.

This book has been written keeping in view every basic step as well as covering the most complex aspects while writing our applications -- from simple effects, to the AJAX way of communicating through systems in applications. It gives you a completely new way of adding interactivity to your web applications. You will learn how sript.aculo.us provides interactivity and beauty to your project so that it engages users and appeals to the masses.

Faster, more efficient, and more productive applications are what we are trying to build. Each chapter of this book has been hand-crafted to make sure that you as a developer can learn and master the art of making beautiful applications.

The book covers all the various aspects of script.aculo.us with a few real-world clone projects, which will surely help you explore your creative side.

The aim of this book is to make you go "WOW"!

What you will learn from this book?

• Discover the script.aculo.us library with the help of real-world case studies
• Explore wonderful Prototype library features like DOM, AJAX, and event handling
• Unleash the server-side techniques using wonderful PHP and MySQL
• Add wonderful Multimedia effects like morph, highlight, fade, and MP3 sounds
• Get to grips with AJAX using Drag and Drop feature
• Learn the tips, tricks and applications of the InPlaceEditor and InPlaceCollection Editor with just a few lines of code
• Explore all the striking features of script.aculo.us including Sliders, Auto-Completion, Multimedia, and so on
• Implement some of the exciting features of Prototype and script.aculo.us to create a ready-to-go-live project
• Create a mash-up of Delicious and Digg applications and experience a new shopping search by integrating features of script.aculo.us library to our web applications
• Integrate modules to build clones for raw applications

Approach

This book has a fast-paced and practical approach. It focuses on features, tutorials, quick-explanations, tips-n-tricks, and live real-world examples, using script.aculo.us. It contains complete code for all projects, all in an AJAX way. The author uses his vast experience as a programmer to show an interesting and creative way of building web applications.

Who this book is written for?

This book is for web developers who build simple yet agile and useful web applications. It is useful for PHP beginners and assumes basic knowledge of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and PHP. The examples in the book use PHP, but can be adapted easily to other languages.

About the Author

Sridhar Rao

Sridhar Rao has been learning, working and developing web applications from the time he was introduced to web. The very idea of reaching out to masses and bringing change in the behavior of the users through web applications excites him the most. Most of his work has been in PHP, MySQL and Javascript. He has worked with some of the leading technology and services companies in his IT career.

Sridhar currently works for the world's leading database and enterprise company. He holds an engineering degree in Information Technology and is based out of Bangalore, India.

Social media in the classroom provide unique opportunities for teaching and learning. This book helps you break through the hype, and shows you how to build a site in Drupal that incorporates the Web in your class, on your terms, to achieve specific learning goals.

This book provides the essential details to get the most out of your Drupal site. In clear, step-by-step instructions, you will learn how to build a site that is easy to use, easy to navigate, and supports the teaching and learning you want to emphasize.

Drupal for Education and E-Learning provides a step-by-step overview of how to work with Drupal to build a feature-rich learning environment. In this book, you will learn how to configure the default Drupal installation, and how to extend your site to include social bookmarking, a podcasting and video sharing platform, image sharing, and interactive discussions around rich media content. You will also learn how to organize your site so that, as learning occurs over time, you and your students will be able to track their work history.

What you will learn from this book?

• Drupal terminology and how Drupal works
• How to build an intuitive structure to allow students and teachers to find relevant content
• How to build an instructor blog to communicate with your students and also the larger school community
• How to publish assignments for students in your courses, and how to track student responses to those assignments
• Using roles, and role-based privileges, to support teaching and learning
• Sharing learning resources using tags and bookmarks
• How to set up a podcasting platform that allows podcasts to be aggregated in a variety of places, including iTunes, thus enabling students and teachers to share information with anyone at any time
• How to set up informal working groups alongside classes to create a safe space for students to collaborate on class projects
• How to develop your site using best practices, and maintain it safely and securely
• Extending your site by installing contributed modules and themes
• Setting up and using some of Drupal's most popular modules: CCK, Views, and Organic Groups

Approach

The book focuses around creating educational activities in Drupal, with lots of examples of realistic courses and classroom ideas - and how to implement them.

Who this book is written for?

This book is for anybody looking to use Drupal to support teaching and learning; more generally, the examples given in this book can also be used by anybody looking to use Drupal to publish social media. This book is not a developer's manual; you do NOT need to know code, or HTML, or CSS, to benefit from this book. People new to Drupal will find clear examples describing how to set up their site. More experienced Drupallers will find tips and tricks for extending their site, and step-by-step instructions on how to make the most out of Drupal's flexibility.

About the Author

Bill Fitzgerald

Bill Fitzgerald was born in 1968, and worked as a teacher for 16 years. During that time, he taught English and History, and worked as a Technology Director at the K12 level. Bill began using technology in his own teaching in the early 90s; from there, he moved on to database design and systems administration. During that time, Bill began developing strategies to support technology integration in 1:1 laptop systems, and in desktop computing environments.

In 2003, Bill and Marc Poris founded FunnyMonkey, a Drupal development shop working primarily within education.

When Bill is not staring deeply into computer screens, he can be found riding his fixed gear bicycle through Portland, OR, or spending far too much time drinking coffee.

The Seam framework from JBoss allows developers to use JSF, Facelets, EJB, and JPA to write conversational web applications. But you will first have to learn how these standard technologies are integrated using Seam and how they can be built upon using additional Seam components. If you need to build a Java web application fast, but don't have time to learn all these complex features, then this book is for you.

The book provides a practical approach to developing Seam applications highlighting good development practices. It provides a complete walk through to develop Web applications using Seam, Facelets, and RichFaces and explains how to deploy them to the JBoss Application Server. You can start using key aspects of the Seam framework immediately because this book builds on them chapter by chapter, finally ending with details of enterprise functionality such as PDF report generation and event frameworks.

First, the book introduces you to the fundamentals of Seam applications, describing topics such as Injection, Outjection and Bijection. You will understand the Facelets framework, AJAX, database persistence, and advanced Seam concepts through the many examples in the book.

The book takes a practical approach throughout to describing the technologies and tools involved. You will add functionality to Seam applications after you learn how to use the Seam Generator RAD tools and how to customize and fully test application functionality. Hints and tips are provided along the way of how to use Seam and the JBoss Application Server.

What you will learn from this book?

• Understand the fundamentals of Seam and why Seam is different from many other web frameworks
• Develop web applications using the Facelets viewing technology as an advanced replacement for JSF
• Test all aspects of a Seam application including testing web pages and Seam components
• Utilize the RichFaces library for developing advanced, rich user interfaces including AJAX technologies for an improved user experience
• Develop persistent applications using the Java Persistence API (JPA)
• Build conversational web applications that can run over multiple browser windows and tabs without worrying about storing session data
• Secure applications using role-based security, CAPTCHA, and OpenId
• Easily use Facelets to render data as HTML/PDF/RTF/email
• Use JBoss Tools to rapidly enhance your developer productivity

Approach

Having developed enterprise Java applications since 2001, the author's experience enables him to provide a clear incremental approach to web development with Seam. Initially the book introduces Seam using Java Server Pages (JSP) as the view technology so that readers can quickly learn the key concepts behind Seam. Additional technologies used within Seam applications are then introduced chapter by chapter with each chapter building on the material previously learned. The book describes each technology, providing working examples and source code for each.

This is not a dry Seam reference book, but an exciting journey learning Seam, starting at the basics and progressing by the end of the book to more advanced enterprise features.

Who this book is written for?

This book is for Java EE application developers who are new to Seam and interested in developing with Seam 2.x.

You will need a basic understanding of Java EE and also to be aware of EJB3, although you do not need to know it in any detail. Experience with JBoss AS would be great, but all you really need is to be comfortable using any application server. Knowledge of AJAX and JavaScript would also be beneficial, although it is not necessary.

About the Author

David Salter

David Salter is an enterprise software architect who has been developing software professionally since 1991. His relationship with Java goes right back to the beginning, using Java 1.0 for writing desktop applications and applets for interactive web sites. David has been developing Enterprise Java Applications using both the J2EE standards and open source solutions for the last five years. David runs the Java community web site Develop In Java, a web site for all levels of Java developers.