Disadvantages of Using JSP What technology doesn t have problems?

Certainly, JSP technology has room for improvement. That said, what one Web application developer views as a weakness, another may view as a strength (remember bug versus features ?).

Here is a (short) list of real or perceived shortcomings of JavaServer Pages:

- JSP implementations typically issue poor diagnostics.

Because JSP pages are translated, and then compiled into Java servlets, errors that creep in your pages are rarely seen as errors arising from the coding of JSP pages.

Instead, such errors are seen as either Java servlet errors or HTML errors. You could look at this as an example of a perceived strength of JSP that of not needing to compile them as opposed to a weakness. For example, a JSP developer coding a scriptlet where a JSP declaration is called for would have to interpret a Java compile error.

The JSP developer would need access to the generated source to properly diagnose the error. Of course, generated code is rarely a thing of beauty, and often, not easily understood.

- The JSP developer needs to know Java. Again, one developer s asset is another s liability. Whereas Java is certainly more full-featured and flexible than other page scripting languages, no one can argue that the learning curve for Java is far steeper than other scripting languages. If you already know Java (you do, right?), this is not an issue.

However, if a corporation is short on Java mavens but wants to use a dynamic Web technology, JSP may not be the route to go. (Another way to look at the need to know Java is that if you had to train a rookie in using either JSP or, say, ASP, and you had two days to produce half a dozen pages, which technology would you opt for?)

- JSP pages require about double the disk space to hold the page.

Because JSP pages are translated into class files, the server has to store the resultant class files with the JSP pages.

- JSP pages must be compiled on the server when first accessed. This initial compilation produces a noticeable delay when accessing the JSP page for the first time.

The developer may compile JSP pages and place them on the server in compiled form (as one or more class files) to speed up the initial page access. The JSP developer may need to bring down the server to make the changed classes corresponding to the changed JSP page.

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