Java technology, created by Sun Microsystems, offers many benefits to Internet and application programmers. The JDK (Java Development Kit) enables developers to:

• Write software on one platform and run it on another.
• Create programs to run within a web browser.
• Develop server-side applications for online forums, stores, polls, processing HTML forms, and more.

There are several versions of the JDK that can be installed, or are already installed, on your server. The JDK contains the Java compiler and Java executable, as well as the bulk of the standard Java libraries.

Installation

To install the JDK, do the following, depending on your VPS operating system.

• FreeBSD VPS Accounts

  Java 1.1.8 is available on your server. To install it, simply run the following command from your VPS account SSH command prompt:

  % vinstall jdk1.1.8
  

  Note: Java 2 is not supported on FreeBSD VPS accounts.

• Solaris VPS Accounts

  To install JDK 2, connect to your server via SSH and execute this command.

  % vinstall j2sdk-1.4
  

  There are also a few earlier versions of Java available on the Solaris VPS. To install an earlier version, pick the version from the following list and run the command indicated.

  J2SDK 1.4 -

  % vinstall j2sdk-1.4

  JDK 1.1.8 -

  % vinstall jdk-1.1.8

Java Servlets and JSPs

Java Servlets and JSP (JavaServer Pages) technology provides Web developers with a simple, consistent mechanism for extending the functionality of a Web server. A servlet can almost be thought of as an applet that runs on the server side. JSP is a server-side technology that is an extension to the Java Servlet technology. JSPs have dynamic scripting capabililty that works in tandem with HTML code, separating the page logic from the static elements.