Musings on the Human Condition

Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Dump JSP tag libraries and switch to JSON. I often see development teams using JSP tag libraries when they shouldn't be. I wrote this post to explain why it's best to view JSP tag libraries as relics of the past. Most non-trivial web applications store data in a database on the server side. These applications need mechanisms that allow the clients (web browsers) and servers (e.g. Java application servers) to exchange data. Typically, either a) data needs to be displayed for the user (so, the client sends the look up criteria to the server and the server responds with the relevant data) or b) the user changes data in the browser and the client needs to submit the data modification to the server for processing and/or permanent storage. Until recently, most Java web applications have used JSP tag libraries as a client-side mechanism to extract data out of Java objects (JavaBeans) passed back and forth between cli...

I recently posted a list of DIY projects on Facebook and a friend responded to suggest that I hire a handyman. So, I wrote this response to explain why I prefer the DIY route. Understand. I like to understand how things work. Fixing things is a great way of achieving an appreciation for how things work, what causes them to stop working, and how to build them better and use them the right way so that they last longer. (While growing up, one of my father's books The Way Things Work was among my favorites. Hard to believe, but this 1967 classic is apparently still in print!) Delegate With Competence. I like to know how something is done before I delegate it. That way I can provide competent supervision and am less likely to be taken for a ride. Reduce Waste. Once you develop a handyman mentality, you tend to fix things rather than throw them away. We have become a throwaway society that creates far too much trash. So, I am always looking for ways to reduce my garbage fo...