As an author, consultant, and instructor, I get a lot of questions about Apache Struts. As a developer of Java-based Web applications, I had a lot of questions of my own when I first got started.

These questions almost never involve advanced Struts capabilities. Instead, they are almost always variations of these basic questions:

• "How do I install and configure Struts? I don't care about all the complicated options, I just want specific instructions that get me started."
• "The Jakarta Struts documentation is a bit abstract. Could you show me step-by-step exactly how to set up a simple Struts application?"
• "Can you give me examples of the minimum steps required to build a basic Apache Struts application?"
• "Can you give brief but specific examples of how to use each of the most important Struts capabilities?"
• "Aaaaaaaaaggghh! Struts seems like magic. Can you walk me through the basic flow of control?"

This free tutorial is an attempt to answer these questions. It is not an exhaustive reference on Apache Struts. Far from it. Instead, it is intended as a Struts Quick Start Guide to get you going. Once you are rolling, you can get more details from the Jakarta Struts documentation or one of the various Struts books.

Also, this tutorial is not meant to be an evangelistic "Why everyone should use Struts and why MVC is impossible without it" manifesto. On the contrary, I don't think that all projects should use Struts, and it is quite easy to implement the MVC architecture using the standard RequestDispatcher. In fact, some Struts aficionados feel that I exaggerate the negatives of Struts in the next section. I like Struts, and think it should be used on many (but not all) projects. Still, it is better to start a project with a realistic feel for both the advantages and the disadvantages than to be disappointed when the reality does not live up to the expectations.

This is the first draft, version 2/13/2004. Contact hall@coreservlets.com to report errors or omissions.

Next section: Understanding Struts

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J2EE Short Courses Personally developed and taught by the author of Core Servlets & JSP, More Servlets & JSP, and this Jakarta Struts tutorial. Programming with Servlet & JSP Technology. Fast-paced, hands-on course for developers who know Java but have little or no experience with servlets and JSP. Offered June 20-23 in Columbia, MD. Jakarta Struts and Advanced Servlet & JSP Programming. Advanced hands-on course for developers with significant previous experience with servlets and JSP. Offered June 26-30 in Columbia, MD. Web App Development with JavaServer Faces (JSF). Advanced hands-on course for developers with significant previous experience with servlets and JSP. Offered July 11-13 in Columbia, MD. Applying Jakarta Struts. Advanced Struts course for those with significant previous JSP and servlet experience. On-site Training Courses: JSP, Servlets, Jakarta Struts, JSF, AJAX, and Java 5. Customizable courses taught by Marty at your organization. Choose any combination of topics from Marty's Java 5, JSP, servlet, Struts, JSF, and AJAX courses. Available in any country. Contact Marty Send email to hall@coreservlets.com to report errors and omissions in this writeup, or to inquire about training courses on Struts, JSP, servlets, JSF, AJAX, or Java 5 programming.

References Jakarta Struts home page. Jakarta Struts documentation. JSP and servlet programming resources. Servlet 2.3 and JSP 1.2 API. Servlet 2.4 API. JSP 2.0 API. JSP, servlet, and Struts training and consulting Jakarta Struts Books Struts in Action: Building Web Applications with the Leading Java Framework. Programming Jakarta Struts. Professional Jakarta Struts. Servlet & JSP Books Core Servlets and JavaServer Pages, Second Edition. Free online version of the First Edition of Core Servlets and JavaServer Pages. In PDF. Free Online Edition of More Servlets and JavaServer Pages. In PDF.