JSTL and Expression Language

JavaServer Pages Standard Tag Library (JSTL) is a custom tags collection that executes common functionalities in web applications, including iteration and selection, data formatting, XML manipulation and database access. JSTL allows JSP developers to focus on development specific necessities, instead of reinventing the wheel.

JSTL is composed of:

• An expression language.
• Standard actions libraries.
• Validators (2 validators).

What is Expression Language (EL)?

Expression Language is a simple language based on ECMAScript (also known as JavaScript) and XPath. It provides expressions and identifiers and type conversion.

Expression Language makes easier the access to implicit objects, such as request / response servlet, scope variables and stored objects on JSP scope (page, request, session and application). EL reduces drastically the need of using JSP expressions and scriptlets, increasing web applications maintainability and extensibility.

Expressions

EL expressions are invoked with this syntax: ${expression}. Expressions consist of:

• Identifiers.
• Operators.

Security Alert : Major IE6, IE7 and Firefox Flaws

Hot on the heels of the my last post, comes news of another major flaw in fully patched versions of IE6 and IE7, as well as an equally severe glitch in Firefox.

...a JavaScript flaw in fully patched IE 6 and 7...  can allow an attacker to fiddle with a document's Document Object Model—a model for representing HTML or XML and related formats.

The result can be cookie stealing or cookie resetting, browser crash, page hijacking, code injection or memory corruption.

The Firefox flaw is also in JavaScript:

[It] can lead to interception of keystrokes and content spoofing, among other things. Mozilla said that the flaw allows attackers to display "offensive, misleading or dangerous contents on trusted sites" or to spoof login prompts. An attacker can also track user behavior, such as timing when a victim arrived and departed at a site...

Full details here, along with demos.

Firefox 3 Alpha 5 Hits the Streets

Mozilla today made an early testing release of its Firefox 3 browser available for download, and this alpha version (code-named Gran Paradiso) for the first time adds the anticipated Places feature for bookmarks.

According to Mike Connor, director of Firefox development at Mozilla, the Places feature in Firefox 3 Alpha 5 represents the biggest upcoming change for the new browser version. With Places, your bookmarks and browsing history are stored in a SQLite database, which allows for better performance, more stability, and other features. (The previous alpha release implemented Places for browsing history.)

Places won't look much different initially, and in my brief look at the Gran Paradiso alpha, the user-facing portion of Places didn't appear to function any differently at all. "People with very large history or bookmark files will notice a big difference [in performance]," says Mike Connor, director of Firefox development at Mozilla. The database can be queried as needed, he says, rather than having to keep the full history or list of bookmarks in memory.

Going Places

Places will also be less likely to lose data in the event of program or Windows crashes. In fact, according to Connor, "We haven't figured out how to make Places lose data." For backwards compatibility and manual backups, Firefox 3 will save bookmarks in the traditional bookmarks.htm file when it closes.

For other bookmark upgrades, Mozilla is planning to enable bookmark tagging, and is considering building its own synchronization client into the browser capable of backing up and sharing bookmarks. Today, extensions from Foxmarks and del.icio.us can sync bookmarks; Connor says Mozilla is in talks with both groups to ensure their services continue to work with Firefox 3.

If you're thinking about trying the alpha, keep in mind that it's early testing software and not meant for everyday browsing. At a minimum, be sure to back up your bookmarks before installing it. The download is available from Mozilla.

Other Firefox 3 updates will include improvements to password handling, so that users won't be prompted to save credentials until after a successful login, and better add-on management, according to Connor. One change I had personally been hoping for, moving the downloads manager from a separate (and annoying) window to something more like an All-in-one Sidebar pane, probably won't make it into Firefox 3, he says. For a list of all the planned upgrades, see the Firefox 3 product requirements document.

These changes will no doubt please Mozilla fans, but don't get your hopes up for a radical step forward with the new Firefox 3, like the change from IE 6 to IE 7. Aside from Places and some support for offline caching, Mozilla doesn't have a "big killer feature" planned for the next Firefox, Connor says.

Instead, he promises, "It will all feel like an organic growth."

Travel to Kauai

Hawaii’s largest airline, serving 20 domestic and international destinations in the Pacific region. Every year, they introduce millions of passengers to spirit of Hawaii.The HawaiianMiles program is your ticket to more Hawaiian travel. You can earn miles in everyday ways, redeem them without blackout dates, and save $10 on every Mainland-to-Hawaii flight.You can book the tickets here Travel to Kauai

A pioneer of Pacific aviation, Hawaiian Airlines was incorporated on January 30, 1929 under the name Inter-Island Airways Ltd. On November 11 that same year, thousands gathered at Honolulu's John Rodgers Airport to witness the departure of Hawaii's first scheduled interisland flights: Inter-Island's inaugural flights to Maui and the Big Island of Hawaii. Two eight-passenger Sikorsky S-38 amphibian planes thus began three weekly round trips between these destinations.
If you would like to request mileage credit for a previous flight, please use their Retroactive Mileage request form.