J2EE Seam Framework, getting started too complicated?

Question

Hey guys,

PS: Using Windows XP

Pretty much I'm trying to get started with J2EE using Seam Framework.

I think that the documentation is too shallow if you are new.

I'm completely lost here.

I want to get started building simple J2EE apps with Seam, but as I read, there so much to get started.

• Ant
• JBoss/Tomcat
• Maven ??
• Seam

Thats what I did.

Went into Seamframework.org got its files. Got the JBoss AS 5 files. Got Ant 1.7 files. Also got Oracle Express 10g.

I didn't get Maven, because its seems optional, what is it actually?

What about the JBoss AS 5, I extracted its files into g:\jboss5 What Should I do after? Run the bat file? Is there a way to set it up as service or what?

Ant ? What is it? I did extract its files into g:\ant1.7 How Should I set it up?

What about seam itself? I did extract it into g:\seam What should I do? just import into the project?

If you can clarify even a single question mark in here, please do.

Cordially

Answer 1

Start with JBOSS 5. Yes, it uses Tomcat as its servlet/JSP engine, but that won't be a big issue.

Ant is a Java-based, XML driven build tool. The JBOSS docs ought to be able to lead you through a simple Ant build.xml creation. Set ANT_HOME to the directory where you install Ant, add %ANT_HOME%\bin to your PATH. Open a command shell and type "ant -version". If it gives back version 1.7, you're in business.

SEAM uses Hibernate and JSPs together to create CRUD web apps. How well do you know Java, JSPs, relational databases, and Hibernate? It's a lot to take on if you're new. Computer science is all about decomposition. Break the problem up into pieces.

The Hans Bergsten JSP book from O'Reilly has always been my favorite JSP book.

The Hibernate docs aren't bad for learning Hibernate. Try that on its own first.

If you've never written Java web apps before, I'd recommend trying just JSPs and JDBC first before tackling Hibernate, SEAM, and JBOSS.

Answer 2

I would recommend the book Seam in Action, it helped me a lot when getting started with Seam. It covers all the basics in the first couple of chapters, so you really don't have to become an expert in all the TLA technologies (JSF, JSP, EJB, etc.) before writing your first "Hello World" Seam application, you can learn by doing.

Unless you're sold on some other IDE, you should also get the Eclipse based JBoss Tools. It supports developing Seam applications, and is actually mentioned in the book.

Answer 3

Installing jboss means unpacking a zip and start run.bat

Installing seam means unpacking a zip and launching seam-gen (seam.bat)

Seam documentation is great: Seam doc take a look at it, and start with examples.

And the framework takes care of all the dependencies.

Soon you will have fun :)

Answer 4

I've been using Seam for two years now, and I am so happy with it!

I believe that once you get it, it's a great tool to do web applications.

However, you are right in one thing: there is much to read to be productive.

Open source is free, works well, but you still have the cost of learning.

I am not sure about your level on J2EE, but before you attempt to use Seam, you sould read:

• EJB 3 in action.

Administering a JBoss server is a work by itself. You should read

• JBoss in Action

In addition to it, anyone that wants to develop using Java and Open Source should read

• Extreme Programming with Ant.

Definitely, you need to know something about Ant it you want to use Seam.

I believe that these three books should be enough as complements to the Seam and RichFaces documentation.

Answer 5

I started using seam with almost no background in JSF or java web programming at all.

It is a long, steep learning curve and I agree with you about the documentation.

I have spent much time scouring forums and books, but what seemed to help the most was when we purchased a JBoss enterprise application subscription from Red Hat. Once you do that, you can ask questions like the ones you might ask on a forum, but a "dedicated support specialist" actually accepts responsibility for your ticket and answers it.

While there are many knowledgeable people on the forums, sometimes they have a negative attitude toward beginners -- scoffing at you to read the manual as if you didn't already just spend 5 hours doing so. And frequently noone answers your question and then you are stuck.

Good luck. I am starting to have fun now, but it has taken months.

TDR

Answer 6

I am interested in seam, Please provide the URLs for EJB in action and seam in action.