Shaun Abram
Java and Technology weblog
Subscribe to RSS FeedSpring MVC Hello World
There is a good Getting Started with Spring MVC blog post over on the Spring team blog.
I have created several Spring MVC projects for both work and play, and am attaching my own simple version of the HelloWorld example here, based on the Spring blog example.
Find my maven ready source here.
Like my previous JSP/Servlet example, I find these templates useful for getting prototypes up and running.
Tags: helloworld, jsp, servlet, spring, springmvc, webapp, webframework
SLF4J & Logback is the new commons-logging & log4j
Interesting post on which logging framework to choose from the logging mess.
I still default to log4j, but it sounds like logback (as the new alternative to log4j), wrapped by SLF4J (as the new alternative to commons logging) is the way forward. Both are written by Ceki Gülcü (blog), the original log4j author.
Tags: log4j, logback, logging, slf4j
JSP EL statements not being evaluated
On several occasions I have had problems with EL (Expression Language) statements not being evaluated.
As an example, you add a statement to a JSP like
$(2+2), expecting the JSP to simply display 4, when it in fact displays the raw statement, i.e. $(2+2).
After digging around the web, I found a number of points to check…
Setting up multiple instances of Tomcat
With multiple tomcat instances, each can run in its own JVM, have its own configuration and can be started/stopped independently. For example, you can have a dev, QA and Prod version of tomcat all running on the same box.
One approach to doing this would be to have multiple, full tomcat installations. This article instead details how to install tomcat once (in CATALINA_HOME) but have multiple independent instances (by utilizing CATALINA_BASE). This is a more streamlined approach that makes creating multiple instances easier and also simplifies upgrades/rollbacks of tomcat.
Tags: apache, appserver, tomcat
Add log4j logging for a unit test in IntelliJ
In IntelliJ
- Click: Run -> Edit Configuration
- Select your test configuration (or add a new one)
- In VM parameters, add
-Dlog4j.configuration=file:/C:/dev/config/log4j.xml
(Or wherever your log4j properties file is)
That’s it. The test should now run with log4j logging (although obviously you need to have the necessary log4j jars available).
This example uses a windows file format, but will work equally well with *nix.
I use this approach for turning on MyBatis logging for individual tests. See here for a basic setup of a log4j.xml file to enable logging with MyBatis.
Tags: intellij, JUnit, log4j, mybatis, unittesting
EasyMock
EasyMock is an open source library for creating, and defining the behavior of, mock objects as part of your unit tests. This article describes how to use EasyMock (v3.0), including its record/playback approach, after setting the context with an brief introduction to unit testing in general and the associated need for mock objects.
Read more
Tags: easymock, mocks, unittesting
Hamcrest Matcher
As a follow up to the Hamcrest post I made yesterday, I wanted to post an example of my own Hamcrest matcher implementation. This matcher tests if a string contains a specified number of substrings.
An example usage could be:
String sql = "select a,b,c from tableA";
assertThat(sql, hasNumberOfSubstrings(",", 2));See the source code below. I have been reading up on OSS licenses recently and decided to release this using the same license as Hamcrest – the new BSD license.
I have also attached a jar which includes the associated unit tests, although you will need the hamcrest-unit-test project to compile, which can be downloaded as part of the hamcrest all-in-one jar.
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Tags: Hamcrest, JUnit, Testing, unittesting
Hamcrest
Hamcrest is a framework for writing matcher objects. Matchers have a variety of uses, but are particularly useful when writing unit tests. Instead of using JUnit’s assertEquals methods, we use Hamcrest’s assertThat construct with one (or more) of the many Matchers available. For example
assertTrue(a.equalTo(b));becomes
assertThat(a, equalTo(b));A small change in this example, but Hamcrest’s benefits are many, enabling you to write much more flexible tests that are easier to read and have more meaningful failure messages.
Read more
Tags: Hamcrest, JUnit, Testing
Final day at JavaOne
I posted some notes about my final day at JavaOne to theServerSide. At the moment, currently on the front page. Cool 
http://www.theserverside.com/news/thread.tss?thread_id=60987
Tags: javaone
OSCON Day4: WebSockets
The first talk of the day I attended at Day 4 of OSCON was from Sean Sullivan (Aravo), who gave a talk on “Programming WebSockets“.
Intro
WebSockets is a technology that enables bidirectional communication between web browsers and server side processes. It provides a persistent connection between client & Server, hence enabling ‘push’ abilities where you can push data/notification to browsers from the client. Other client communication options to compare it with would be Ajax
and Comet (basically Ajax with long polling).