JSF for Nonbelievers: The JSF Application Lifecycle

By Rick Hightower
2005-05-05


Walk Through the 6 Phases of JSF's Request Processing Lifecycle
In this second article in his four-part JSF for nonbelievers series, Rick Hightower introduces the major phases of the JavaServer Faces (JSF) request processing lifecycle. Using a sample application, he walks you through the six phases of a request process. Along the way, he shows you how to combine JSF with JavaScript technology for immediate event handling and completes your introduction to the JSF component model with a first look at many of the components that ship with JSF.

Contrary to popular belief, it's possible to write Java™Server Faces (JSF) applications without knowing every little detail of how the technology works. You can learn a tremendous amount by just giving yourself a project and cobbling through it to the end. On the other hand, understanding certain fundamentals will make your development efforts much more rewarding -- and a lot less time-consuming.

In this second article in the JSF for nonbelievers series, I'll walk you through the six phases of the JSF request processing lifecycle. I'll explain what happens in each phase and how the phases interconnect, then use an example application to demonstrate the lifecycle in action. Along the way, I'll also show how to work with some of the built-in JSF components briefly touched on in Part 1. I'll also show you how to incorporate Struts Tiles into your JSF development, and how to combine JSF and JavaScript for immediate event handling.

As in the previous article, the default build environment for the example application is Maven. You can download the example source by clicking the Code icon at the top or bottom of this page. For simplicity, you'll find the example setup the same as it was in the previous article. See Resources for further directions on the build environment setup, including directions for building and running the example application in Ant, rather than Maven.

Tutorial Pages:
» Walk Through the 6 Phases of JSF's Request Processing Lifecycle
» The JSF Lifecycle: an Overview
» Phase 1: Restore View
» Phase 2: Apply Request Values
» Phase 3: Process Validation
» Phase 4: Update Model Values
» Phase 5: Invoke application
» Phase 6: Render Response
» A Working Example
» Let's Code it
» Use Case 1: Add a New CD
» Use Case 2: Edit a CD
» Use Case 3: Sort CDs
» Immediate Event Handling
» Conclusion
» Resources


First published by IBM DeveloperWorks

Related Tutorials: » All about JAXP, Part 1 » Make Database Queries Without the Database » Load List Values for Improved Efficiency » 2 Ways To Implement Session Tracking » A Simple Way to Read an XML File in Java » Develop Aspect-Oriented Java Applications with Eclipse and AJDT