Advanced J ava Programming

Unit Two: Servers and Servlets

Gareth Lee
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering,
University of Western Australia
John
Morris
Gareth
Lee
Overview
To create a simple HTTP server in Java
To use the implementation to illustrate a
number of advanced Java features:
TCP/IP Sockets and Server Sockets
Interfaces
Software components (more from John later)
Multithreading
To show how to create executable server
objects (using Suns Servlets API)
Recommended Reading
J ava Network Programming, Elliotte Rusty
Harold, OReilly and Associates, 1997,
ISBN 1-56592-227-1
TCP/IP Network Administration, Second
Edition, Craig Hunt, OReilly and
Associates, 1997, ISBN 1-56592-322-7
The Java Developers connection:
http://www.javasoft.com/jdc
The Javadoc documentation
(Pseudo) requirements
Server must be able to process HTTP/1.0
file transfer requests and deliver files
Connections are to be made via TCP/IP
Must be efficient and prompt
Must be simple to understand and elegant
in design
HTTP protocol
Developed by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN
Like most Internet protocols it is described
in an RFC (Request for Comment
document): RFC1945
May be downloaded from the Internet
Engineering Task Forces web site:
http://www.ietf.org
Back to server example
Some of you may have covered this in the
introductory Java course
Servers have a listener loop
Loop until the server is shutdown
Wait for a client to request a connection
Read the details of the clients request
Provide the requested information to the
client
Heres the listener loop from our example:
HttpServer
ServerSocket socket = new ServerSocket(80, 5);

public void listen()
throws IllegalAccessException,
InstantiationException,
IOException
{
for (;;) {
System.err.println("HttpServer: waiting...");
Socket s = socket.accept();

FileServer f = createFileServer();
f.dispatch(s);
}
}
How it all fits together
2037 80
2037 1583
2037 1583
Client (sid) Server (fred)
ServerSocket ss.
s = ss.accept()
s = new Socket
(fred, 80)
Socket s
s.getInputStream()
s.getOuputStream()
s.getInputStream()
s.getOuputStream()
but more of that later!
Good software is designed in a modular
fashion avoiding stovepipe designs!
This is a form of software components
Java has strong support for components
Components hide their implementation
behind interfaces
An interface defines a contract between
the supplier/server and the user/client.
How clients use interfaces
ServerSocket socket = new ServerSocket(80, 5);

public void listen()
throws IllegalAccessException,
InstantiationException,
IOException
{
for (;;) {
System.err.println("HttpServer: waiting...");
Socket s = socket.accept();

FileServer f = createFileServer();
f.dispatch(s);
}
}
Interfaces benefit clients
Simplifies client implementation
Clients do not need to worry about the
implementation details
Interfaces encapsulate state of different
subsystems side effects reduced
Define clear boundaries between different
teams of programmers
Clients can substitute alternative
implementations: polymorphism
Clients can purchase off the shelf
solutions: software components
Interfaces simplify clients
Software Component
Client Program
Interface
/ublic class HttpServer
{
/**
Listens indefinitely for transfer requests and creates a server
instance for each request.
*/
public void listen()
throws IllegalAccessException, InstantiationException, IOException
{
for (;;) {
/*
Block, waiting for a request to occur then spawns a new
(anonymous) socket with which to deal with the request.
*/
System.err.println("HttpServer: waiting...");
Socket s = socket.accept();

/*
Create a file server to deal with the new socket.
*/
FileServer f = createFileServer();
f.dispatch(s);
}
}
public static void main(String[] args)
{
try {
HttpServer htts = new HttpServer("sea.server.ThreadedFileServer");
htts.listen();
}
catch (Exception e) {
System.err.println("HttpServer: failed due to exception:\n" + e);
}
}
The FileServer interface
public interface FileServer
{
/**
This method allows an incoming HTTP request to initiate a
file dispatch. The socket will provide an input stream (which
is at the beginning) from which an HTTP/1.0 header request may
be read.<p>

It also provides an output stream on which the request should be
delivered. The delivery should have an HTTP/1.0 header
prepended.

@param s The socket on which a request is being made.
Once this method has returned the socket will have
been closed by the dispatcher.
*/
public void dispatch(Socket s);
}
Interfaces are contracts
Each interface is a contract between two
parties
The contract should be made as strict and
precise as possible
Avoid unnecessary ambiguity
Document the contract within the
interfaces source file using Javadoc
Implementing FileServer
Two flavours of FileServer have been
provided using deferred instantiation
A simple one but with low performance:
sea.server.SimpleFileServer
A server that uses multiple threads to increase
performance: sea.server.ThreadedFileServer
A server which uses a pool of threads to
achieve the maximum possible performance:
sea.server.ThreadedServer2
SimpleFileServer (1)
Must implement the FileServer interface so
that it can plug in to the HttpServer
Reads the HTTP request from the Sockets
input stream
Decides which file is required
Reads the file and spools to the Sockets
output stream.
SimpleFileServer (2)
public class SimpleFileServer implements FileServer
{
protected Socket s = null;

public void dispatch(Socket s)
{
this.s = s;
respond();
}

. . . .
}
SimpleFileServer (3)
Socket s;

InputStream inStream = s.getInputStream();
InputStreamReader reader = new InputStreamReader(inStream);
BufferedReader input = new BufferedReader(reader);
Must get an input stream so that we can
analyse the request
Socket provides the method
InputStream getInputStream();
SimpleFileServer (4)
Request consists of a number of lines of
text separated by \r\n
First line is all this server is interested in
A typical request might be of the form:
GET /path/to/file.html HTTP/1.0
Accept: text/html
Accept: image/gif
User-Agent: Lynx/2.4
SimpleFileServer (5)
Cuts out the file name
Looks for the file relative to the current
working directory (not portable!!)
If the file is a directory look for the file
index.html in the directory
If the file does not exist then respond with
an error (code 404)
SimpleFileServer (6)
Must construct a header for the response
Code 200 means success
Simple header takes the following form:
HTTP/1.0 200 OK
Server: SEA/1.0
MIME-version: 1.0
Content-type: text/html

Data starts after blank line. . .
More data, etc. . .
SimpleFileServer (7)
Get the output stream from the Socket
OutputStream getOutputStream()
Spool (copy) the file contents into the
socket
If the MIME type is textual then we must
make sure the lines are delimited by \r\n.
Otherwise we pass the file unmodified
Server performance (1)
The SimpleFileServer is completely
sequential.
It handles one request at a time.
Reading a file from disk takes a long time
(around 10ms)
The server will be sitting idle while it waits
for the file to load (wasting up to 10
6

instruction cycles)
Other web browsers will be kept waiting
Server performance (2)
Start HTTP request loading
Block awaiting disk availability
Deliver web page across network
time
Threaded servers (1)
Threaded servers can process several
requests at once. Each request is handled
by a separate thread.
This doesnt increase the overall amount
of work done (unless using SMP)
. . . but it does reduce the wastage!
Threaded operation is worthwhile when
threads are expected to block, awaiting I/O
operations
Threaded servers (2)
Start HTTP request loading
Block awaiting disk availability
Deliver web page across network
time
Threaded FileServer (1)
Java provides very convenient
multithreading to programmers
We can add threads using inheritance
We can supplement the existing capabilities of
the SimpleFileServer class
We create a class ThreadedFileServer which
extends the existing SimpleFileServer
You may have covered threads in the
Introductory Java Course
Threaded FileServer (2)
public class ThreadedFileServer extends SimpleFileServer
implements FileServer, Runnable
{
private static int index = 0;

public void dispatch(Socket s) {
super.s = s;
Thread thread =
new Thread(this, Server-" + (index++));
thread.start();
}

public void run() {
super.respond();
}
}
java.lang.Thread (1)
Creates new threads within the virtual
machine
Classes which start threads must
implement interface java.lang.Runnable
interface Runnable
{
/**
This is the method that will be run when the
new thread is started.
*/
public void run();
}
java.lang.Thread (2)
Must create a Thread object associated
with each new thread using the
constructor
Thread(Runnable run, String threadName)
Start a thread with the method
void start()
Other useful methods can be used to set
priorities and interrupt a running thread
java.lang.Thread (3)
Our threads do not share any common
memory locations (except for index)
When threads read/write a shared memory
area access must be synchronized
Otherwise it is impossible to predict how
the system will behave
Java has mechanisms for achieving this
But even threads cost
Starting a thread can be relatively
expensive when performance is critical
Our threaded server creates a new Thread
for each file to be transferred
A better approach is to create a pool of
threads and recycle them
Create a pool of threads which are ready to
work when needed
Have threads wait until work is available
Better, but more complex so look at the
class sea.server.ThreadedFileServer2
Making the server programmable
Our example web server performs a very
simple task
Accept a request from a client
Retrieve the appropriate document from disk
Return the document to the client
This is too limiting
How do we implement searches?
We need to be able to run programs within
the server to process user requests
Accept a client request including arguments
Run a program on the arguments
Return results in the form of a document
Servlets
When we run small Java programs within a
browser these are referred to as Applets. . .
so we run small Java programs within a
server these are Servlets
A servlet is a program designed to process
a client request (which requires
interactivity).
It processes arguments and formats its results
as a short lived document.
HTML servlets are becoming a popular
mechanism for creating interactive
servers.
Servlets versus CGI (1)
Traditionally programs were run on web
servers using Common Gateway Interface
(CGI) scripts written in languages such as
Perl.
Must create a new interpreter process for each
client request
Comparatively slow to start
Expensive of memory resources when serving
several clients at the same time
Interpreted programs are CPU intensive
Servlets versus CGI (2)
Servlets use Java objects which persist
between requests to the server
Low latency since requests run in threads
Offer performance advantages since programs
are compiled and can take advantage of JITs
and/or Hotspot JVMs.
Servlet groups can share a JVM leading to
smaller memory footprints.
Servlets run in a Sandbox offering protection
from malicious (or accidental) damage
Programs are future proofed since WORA
offers better scope for server upgrades.

Creating a simple servlet
Servlets are written in a similar fashion to
applets
Write a new servlet class which extends
javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet (or just
implements javax.servlet.Servlet)
Override certain methods to deal with requests
Get your methods to create an HTML document
to return information to the clients browser
Load the servlet byte codes onto your web
server (for example apache/jserv)
Import servlet methods (1)
When the servlet is first loaded it makes a
single call to the method
public void init(ServletConfig config)
This may optionally be overridden to
initialise the state of the servlet (for example
loading state information from a file).
When a servlet is finally unloaded it makes
a single call to the method
public void destroy()
If you wish to save to servlet state to a file
(or using JDBC) this is the method to
override

Import servlet methods (2)
To handle an HTTP GET request implement
protected void doGet(HttpServletRequest request,
HttpServletResponse response)
If a browser visits your servlet this is where
you get to create a document for it to display
To handle an HTTP POST request provide
protected void doPost(HttpServletRequest request,
HttpServletResponse response)
If your document contains an HTML form
and the user posts the results this is where
you can extract and process them
Also methods for HTTP OPTIONS, TRACE
and DELETE (more exotic options)

Import servlet methods (3)
Two objects are passed as parameters to
all these handler methods:
javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest
Represents the formation that was passed to
the server when the user submitted the request
by visiting/posting to the servlets URL.
javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse
Used to construct a reponse document that is
returned to the user
Each has a raft of methods so check the
Javadoc for details

A simple chat server
An web based chat room server
A number of users can connect to the
servlet using browsers
Read a list of the previous messages
Optionally append new messages to the
list
Messages are attributed to a specific
author and are time stamped
Messages do not persist after the chat
server is stopped (easy enough to rectify)
ChatServer (1)
public class ChatServlet extends HttpServlet
{
Vector messages = new Vector();

public void init(ServletConfig config)
throws ServletException
{
super.init(config);
}

public void destroy()
{
// Currently does nothing
}

. . . .
}
ChatServer (2)
protected void doGet(HttpServletRequest request,
HttpServletResponse response)
throws ServletException, IOException {
createDocument(response);
}

protected void createDocument(HttpServletResponse response)
throws IOException {
response.setContentType("text/html");
response.setHeader("pragma", "no-cache");
PrintWriter writer = response.getWriter();
writer.println("<HTML>");
writer.println("<HEAD><TITLE>Chat Servlet</TITLE></HEAD>");
writer.println("<BODY>");
Date now = new Date();
writer.println("Current server time is " + now + "<P>");
. . . .
writer.println("</BODY></HTML>");
writer.close();
}
ChatServer (3)
for (int i = 0; i < messages.size(); i++) {
writer.println("<HR>");
String messageString = (String) messages.elementAt(i);
writer.println(messageString);
}

writer.println("<HR><FORM METHOD=POST>");
writer.println("Enter your name: +
<INPUT TYPE=TEXT SIZE=25 NAME=name><BR>");
writer.println("Enter your message:<BR> +
<TEXTAREA ROWS=5 COLS=40 NAME=message> +
Type your message here</TEXTAREA><BR>");
writer.println(
"<INPUT TYPE=SUBMIT NAME=action VALUE=Submit>");
writer.println("<HR></FORM>");
ChatServer (4)
protected synchronized void doPost(
HttpServletRequest request,
HttpServletResponse response)
throws ServletException, IOException
{
String name = request.getParameter("name");
String message = request.getParameter("message");
if (name != null && message != null) {
Date timeStamp = new Date();
String messageString = "<B>Message " + messages.size() +
" from " + name + " at " + timeStamp +
":</B><BR>" + message + "<P>";
messages.add(messageString);
}

createDocument(response);
}
Performance (1)
Servlets offer better performance than
most of the previous CGI like technologies
But CGI/Servlets concentrate the load on
the server
When designing high throughput servers
only use servlets where you really need
interactivity
Searches/Shopping carts
Data that is very short lived (stock quotes)
This also applies to low throughput
servers that might need to scale later

Performance (2)
Consider using periodic programs to
generate static documents on disk
The cost of serving fixed documents will
always be less than the cost of server side
execution
Disk space is cheap!
Consider using applets when possible
This places the load on the client machines
rather than the server
Finally consider using SMP and/or server
farms
Complex and very expensive

Pull versus Push transports
How can a chat reader find out when a new
message has been posted by another
author?
Only by repeatedly hitting the Reload button!
HTTP (& TCP/IP services in general)
transfer documents on the users request
To push updates automatically from the
server you will need to:
Start a reverse server within each client
Use a multicast group
Use a remote procedure call system such as
RMI or CORBA
Servlets and J SP
Java Server Pages is an extension to the
servlets API.
With conventional servlets you embed the
HTML that you need inside a Java
program.
With JSP you embed your Java program
within a HTML document (by using special
tags).
Works rather like JavaScript but the JSP
script runs on the server before the page is
dispatched to the users browser.

Useful sources of information
For information about HTML try
http://www.w3schools.com
You can download Suns servlet
development kit from their web site at the
http://java.sun.com/products/servlet
You can download apaches Tomcat server
from http://jakarta.apache.org
For other information about Servlet
development try http://www.servlets.com
Homework
Read through the sample code to convince
yourself you understand whats going on
Sample code can be downloaded from
http://ciips.ee.uwa.edu.au/~gareth
Read the code documentation
If you can, run the examples to check they
work
Comments, Suggestions. . .
How was the presentation paced?
Was there enough (or too much) technical
content?
Any areas of particular interest?
Comments regarding presentation style?