Java Web Servers/Servlets
Java is now being used to develop web servers.
Java is also being used as the language to develop server side code for web servers, using the Common Gateway Interface (CGI) of the HTTP protocol. These are called servlets.
- Servlets follow a standard servlet API defining the interface between the server and the servlet, and are designed to work within the request/response model of HTTP. The servlet API is part of the standard extensions of JDK.
- Servlets can provide all the services of standard CGI, but are platform-independent, i.e. they can be used with any server implementing the API, and have more state capabilities.
- More generally, servlets play the role of providing middle-tier services between the client and the back-end applications.