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- XML. The uPortal framework uses XML and XSLT extensively to ensure the platform independence of data and to separate that data from it's presentation. To develop a portal with uPortal, you will have to create/edit XML files and create/edit XSL stylesheets. If you're not fluent with the XML-related APIs in Java, (McLaughlin2000) provides a comprehensive tutorial on writing Java programs that can create and manipulate XML documents. The uPortal developers highly recommend (Kay2000) to those looking for a tutorial and in-depth reference guide to XSLT. (Bradley2000) provides a guide to the overall XSL standard.
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No. I'm using the word 'framework' in it's its widely-accepted, Software Engineering sense (Wirfs-Brock1991). A framework is a reusable design, expressed as a set of classes, that can serve as a solution to a family of related problems and support reuse at a larger granularity than classes. A mature framework allows components to be reusedas "black boxes", that is, a programmer can incorporate them into a system under construction without knowing their implementations (Johnson1998). Most frameworks in widespread use today are for constructing graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for traditional desktop applications. uPortal is different in that it's a framework for developing a web portal and developing content for display within that portal, but the underlying principal of both kinds of frameworks is the same: the framework provides programmers with an infrastructure that supports a coherent architectural model, allowing developers to concentrate on applying their expertise to the problem domain. In the case of uPortal, the framework takes care of the common functionality that every portal needs, so that you can implement the parts that are important and specific to your campus.
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- JDBC. It's likely you will want your application to store information in and retrieve information from a database, so
the ability to use the Java Database Connectivity API will be essential. The portal itself requires a relational database
to store information related to users and their preferences, and the standard way for your application to access this
information is by using JDBC. If you're not familiar with the JDBC API, (White1999) is a comprehensive tutorial, reference and source of sample code.
- EJB. If your application requires distributed data access, transactions and persistence, the Enterprise Java Beans distributed component model will probably become an important part of your architecture. For EJB beginners, (Monson-Haefel2000) provides a complete reference. To get an idea of what you're in for when you begin developing channnels, carefully read Michael Oltz' tutorial.
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