Web Applications - Where to Start?
I am new to webapp development in Java and was looking for a suitable tutorial on this subject. I've found a whole bunch of frameworks from rack to seam. What structure should I consider given that my level of knowledge in this area is quite low?
Also is there a global guide to web application basics?
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I would suggest looking into Seam as it builds on JSF, the industry standard. It is also one of the newer and better web application frameworks available in the Java landscape today. Also, it has excellent support for both EJB3 and simple pojo creation.
You should also do some background reading about servlets.
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The Java EE Tutorial describes the basics of a web application .
As for the framework, take a look at this question
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I can't help you with Java, but here is a link to an excellent SO post that will help you with your second question.
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If you want something lightweight for developing web applications, I would highly recommend grails. Other structures are fine, but the learning and configuration complexity is high. Most of the time you will find against them.
With Grails, you'll be up and running in a few minutes.
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I would focus on learning HTTP / HTML first - you need to know the basics of static web development before building dynamic web applications.
Then just do some basic servlets and JSPs - all other Java web frameworks are built on top of this - and if you go straight into a higher level framework, sooner or later you will run into a problem that needs to be debugged / developed which will require knowing how Servlet / JSP based APIs work.
After you learn the basics, take a look at the other structures built on top of this to see what they offer.
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