Chapter 2. Beginning with Java

We’ll begin by creating a Java application that will expose web services so we can later connect to them from a Flex client. We have attempted to avoid tying the book to a specific sample application by focusing more on the concepts and techniques of using various frameworks and tools. This should allow you to pick a topic in the book that interests you and get rolling on it. We’ll demonstrate many topics by using an application built in this chapter called FlexBugs. If you want to follow the samples in the book you can download the full code listings on the book’s website at http://manning.com/allmon. You could also replace the application contents with something that’s more meaningful to you by changing the domain objects to manage whatever you want, like contacts or movie favorites.

Throughout the book, especially in this chapter, we leverage a few Java frameworks that help to lighten the amount of work required to build a fully functional web application. This chapter is a bit mechanical because we need to set up a development environment. A few downloads and installs must take place if you choose to use our samples. Feel free to browse through this chapter and skip what you already know.

2.1. Working with AppFuse

2.2. Generating the application structure with Maven

2.3. Build the model objects

2.4. Build the DAOs

2.5. Build the services

2.6. Wiring things together with Spring

2.7. Constructing the web tier

2.8. Summary