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Apache Tomcat 4.0 Final Released

Posted by Hemos on from the meow-meow-roar dept.

A reader writes "The latest version of the Apache Java Servlet engine has been released. 'The 4.0 release implements the Servlet 2.3 and JSP 1.2 specifications.' Read more at The Apache Group's Jakarta site."

5 of 288 comments (clear)

  1. Tomcat looks good by claes · · Score: 5, Informative

    Tomcat is getting pretty good. Version 4 makes it very easy to deploy new webapps: it includes a web admin interface, and new apps can be deployed without restarting it. As a standalone webserver it is also fairly competent, at least for specialised applications with smaller user numbers.

    Apache does some great things with Java. I have worked both with Tomcat (servlet container), Xerces (XML parser) and Xalan (XSLT engine). Thanks to the good work to come out from Apache, Java has become a very strong competitor to MS .NET. Actually I think it is ahead. In the future we will get the XML Binding API, that makes it possible to compile XML Schemas to java "xml manipulator" classes that can be used to manipulate XML instances of these schemas. XML parsing and manipulation will then be childs play. Define your schema, compile it and you have code that is specialised to work with these documents!

    With a strong XML foundation in place, Java's future is looking really good.

  2. very cool by Dalroth · · Score: 5, Informative

    I'm not completely up to speed on what Java Web development enhancements this brings to the table. However, I can honestly say that in my dealings with ßeta versions of Tomcat 4.0, the configuration files for Tomcat 4.0 are 1000x times easier and more sensible! The configuration files for Tomcat 3.x look like they were designed by a monkey on crack (or a Sendmail developer). Tomcat 4.0 config files are finally well thought out and usable. Can't wait to get my systems upgraded! :)

  3. Very Mini howto... by (H)elix1 · · Score: 5, Informative
    Download the file - lets say on a Win2K they have locked down at work. No admin rights? no problem... (Win2K assumptions here, though most OS's work about the same)

    Make sure you have a JDK installed, like Sun's Windows version.

    Unzip to a directory - taking the defaults sets you up in c:\jakarta-tomcat-4.0.

    Go to the control pannel, click system, click advanced, click Environment Variables. Click new button on system variables and create a JAVA_HOME with a path to where you extracted your JDK. (My box has javac located in c:\jdk\bin, so my JAVA_HOME is c:\jdk). Create a TOMCAT_HOME as above pointing to c:\jakarta-tomcat-4.0.

    Open up a command prompt, cd to c:\jakarta-tomcat-4.0\bin and run startup.bat.

    Open a browser and type in http://localhost:8080, you should see it...

    Happy hacking in the example code!

    --
    +++ UGUCAUCGUAUUUCU
  4. Tomcat As the Anti.NET? by Lethyos · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This project seems that it could fill the role of a great that that Sun wanted to accomplish with Java. The versatility of Servlets is quite extensive and it makes me wonder why, in the shadow of this project, the OSS community is spending time on dotGNU and Mono.

    Tomcat has tremendous potential to deliver robust, complete apps in the same way .NET wants to. And, it's not restricted to Windows.

    Is my thinking correct in that we can level this software against Microsoft's upcoming ventures? Can we make a .NET killer out of this, or am I thinking about driving a screw with a hammer?

    --
    Why bother.
  5. Re:Why use PHP? by crisco · · Score: 5, Informative
    • Because Java / JSP is just getting to the point of ease of use that PHP was a couple of years ago? In terms of strength as a language and a platform, JSP and Servlets have PHP beat. But the entry level is much higher, think of the arcane xml files to get your programs working in the directories you want. With PHP you just drop things in and they work, often easier than CGI. Consider how many people start, diving in and messing with code. Now imagine you wanna do that with a servlet? Not that it is difficult, it is just a little harder than with PHP.
    • Because PHP / MySQL are standard at many cheap webhosts and with many Linux distros? And jsp / servlets aren't.
    • The OSS community's mistrust of Java and Sun and anything related to them.
    • Momentum and established codebase. Need a shopping cart, weblog, photogallery, or bulletin board? Head over to freshmeat and take your pick of PHP and Perl solutions. Want it in Java? Hmm, slim pickings...
    --

    Bleh!