Designing applications

 

This topic highlights Web sites and other ideas for finding best practices for designing WebSphere applications, particularly in the realm of WebSphere extensions to the J2EE specification.

When designing WebSphere applications, follow the example set by the Samples. Refer to the code in the Samples Gallery that is available with the product. In particular, the Samples Gallery highlights new and WebSphere-specific aspects of the programming model.

Consult the architectural suggestions in Application design consideration.

Use the following links to find relevant supplemental information about designing WebSphere applications. The information resides on IBM and non-IBM Internet sites, whose sponsors control the technical accuracy of the information.

These links are provided for convenience. Often, the information is not specific to the IBM WAS product, but is useful all or in part for understanding the product. When possible, links are provided to technical papers and Redbooks that supplement the broad coverage of the release documentation with in-depth examinations of particular product areas.

 

Web resources for learning

• The top 10 (more or less) J2EE best practices

  The authors, who are IBM consultants and performance experts, describe this document in the following way: Over the last five years, a lot has been written about J2EE best practices. There now are probably 10 or more books along with dozens of articles that provide insight into how J2EE applications should be written. In fact, there are so many resources, often with contradictory recommendations, navigating the maze has become an obstacle to adopting J2EE itself. To provide some simple guidance for customers entering this maze, we set out to compile the following "top 10" list of what we feel are the most important best practices for J2EE.

• IBM Patterns for e-Business

  Patterns for e-business are a group of reusable assets that can help speed the process of developing Web-based applications. The patterns leverage the experience of IBM architects to create solutions quickly, whether for a small local business or a large multinational enterprise.

• WebSphere Best Practices and Performance Considerations

  This document is older (2001), but its focus on the fundamentals of Web and Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) application programming helps it stand the test of time.

• Best practices for using XSLT in WAS applications

  The author states: In this article I explore the reasons why some WebSphere Application Server applications use XSL for HTML production instead of JavaServer Pages files. I will compare the performance of XSLT for HTML/XHTML production against JSP files and browser formatting. I will then provide guidance on how to improve XSLT performance in WAS should you decide to go this route. While this article focuses on the use of XSLT for the production of HTML, the performance best practices are directly applicable to other WAS uses of XSLT, such as XML-to-XML transformations and XML-to-text transformations.

• Rational on developerWorks

  This page provides quick links to technical resources and best practices for Rational software. Browse information by product or by technology. Find resources for learning, support, and developer communities.

• developerWorks site

  developerWorks is IBM's technical resource for developers, providing a wide range of tools, code, and education on DB2, eServer, Lotus, Rational, Tivoli, and WebSphere as well as on open standards technology such as Web services, Wireless, Linux, XML, Java technologies, and more. By providing focused and relevant technical information for developers, developerWorks offers choices you can apply to building and deploying applications across heterogeneous systems. Using developerWorks, you can take full advantage of open standards and the IBM Software Development Platform in an on demand world.

• Resource reference listWAS has a large amount of existing documentation. Use the following user communities and other non-IBM sites that gather knowledge about using WebSphere products as a guideline to find the documentation that you require.

  • http://www.websphere-world.com/

  • http://www.websphere.org/

  • http://www.webspherepro.com/wphome/

  • http://www.sys-con.com/websphere/

  • http://websphereadvisor.com/

See also the documentation for the type of application that you are developing, such as Web applications, EJB applications, Web services applications, or applications that use messaging. Many sections contain Web resources for learning topics that bring attention to specific documents that become available.

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Related concepts

J2EE specification

 

Related information

Recommended reading list: J2EE and WAS

 

Reference topic