Section 1.1. Requirements

1.1. Requirements To clarify, Ajax isn't a language or a software package; there is no single source of Ajax technology. If you're a Java developer, you probably already have many of the tools you need to work with Ajax. Let's review the minimum requirements that you will need to develop an Ajax application with Java: Browser You will need a browser that supports JavaScript (Internet Explorer, Safari, Mozilla, Opera, Firefox, etc.). Java Development Kit You will need a Java compiler and libraries, preferably for Java 5 or Java 6. Apache Ant You will need Apache Ant. You can get by without Ant, but only if you're a masochist. (An alternative is Maven. The examples in this book assume you're using Ant, but adapting them to Maven shouldn't be difficult.) Application server The server piece can be any application server that can host Java servlets and can communicate via HTTP. The examples in this book have been developed using Sun's JDK 1.5 and Apache Tomcat 5.0, but there are many other application servers (such as JRun, JBoss, Resin, WebLogic, WebSphere, and Glassfish) that you can use with Ajax. If you are going to use a servlet container other than Tomcat, you can skip the "Installing Tomcat" section. However, I advise you to use Tomcat first; after you understand an example and have it running, then try it on a different server.