JSP Web Hosting

JavaServer Pages, also called JSP, is a multifaceted technology that allows development of web sites that are dynamically generated in response to user requests with HTML, XML or other data. JSP extends the Servlet 2.1 API, an Application Programming Interface that grew out of Sun Microsystems servlet specification from 1997. The current versions are:

• JSP 2.1
• Servlet 2.5

JSP 2.1 is part of the Java EE 5 Platform.

JSP is made to perform similar tasks to those done by ASP on a Windows server. One advantage of JSP is that, unlike ASP, it is cross-platform and can work on UNIX, Linux, and Windows servers, while ASP only works with Windows. ASP, however, is thought to be simpler to learn. Both JSP and ASP allow developers to embed code in HTML pages and access databases. These comparisons hold true for JSP and ASP.NET as well.

JSP creates a Java servlet source file, which has to be compiled into a class file the first time it runs. This means that it is slower the first time it runs, and subsequently faster when the servlet is simply executed. Web pages made with JSP will show a .jsp file extension.

Choosing JSP Web Hosting

First, it's important to note that just because JSP can run on Windows does not mean that a web host will offer it to you on their Windows servers. Network Solutions, for example, only offers JSP on Unix. Ditto for GoDaddy. In addition, with both Network Solutions and GoDaddy, only offer Java programming in their higher level plans: neither GoDaddy's "Economy Plan" nor Network Solutions' "Standard Web Hosting" or "Advanced Web Hosting" plans offer Java. At Network Solutions, you need to choose "Pro Web Hosting," and at GoDaddy, you need to choose either the "Deluxe Plan" or the "Unlimited Plan."

Besides checking that JSP is available, it's important to check the versions to make sure of compatibility. In addition, you should always check storage space and bandwidth to be sure they're a good match for your use, as well what happens in the case of overage, the start-up fees if any, commitment length, and upgrade possibilities, should your web needs grow.