Use Apache Struts 2 to create and maintain enterprise-ready Java Web Applications

Apache Struts 2 is a smart, effective and extensible framework for creating enterprise-ready Java web applications. The framework is designed to streamline the full development cycle, from building, to deploying, to maintaining applications over time.

Struts 2 Environment Setup

Follow theses simple steps to setup environment for struts 2.

Step 1 – Setup Java Development Kit (JDK):

You can download the latest version of JDK from Oracle’s Java site. Set PATH and JAVA_HOME environment variables to refer to the directory. Following line is put in environment variables for eclipse to use run time.

Set   : PATH=C:\jdk1.x.0\bin;(For Windows )
Set   :JAVA_HOME=C:\jdk1.x.0; (For Windows )

Step 2 – Setup Apache Tomcat:

You can download the latest version of Tomcat from here http://tomcat.apache.org/. Once you downloaded the installation, unpack the binary distribution into a convenient location.
For example in C:\apache-tomcat-6.0.33 on windows, or /usr/local/apache-tomcat-6.0.33 on Linux/Unix and create CATALINA_HOME environment variable pointing to these locations.

Tomcat can be started by executing commands on console.
C:\apache-tomcat-6.0.33\bin\startup.bat

User can directly start server by double click on startup.bat.

After a successful startup, the default web applications included with Tomcat will be available by visiting http://localhost:8080/.
Tomcat can be stopped by executing the following commands on windows machine:

C:\apache-tomcat-5.5.29\bin\shutdown

Step 3 – Setup Eclipse (IDE):

To install Eclipse download the latest Eclipse binaries from http://www.eclipse.org/downloads/. Once you downloaded the installation, unpack the binary distribution into a convenient location. For example in C:\eclipse on windows, or /usr/local/eclipse on Linux/Unix and finally set PATH variable appropriately. Now you can simply double click on eclipse.exe for startup.

Step 4 – Setup Struts2 Libraries:
Now if everything is fine, then you can proceed to setup your Struts 2 framework. Following are the simple steps to download and install Struts2 on your machine.

1. Make a choice whether you want to install Struts2 on Windows, or Unix and then proceed
to the next step to download .zip file for windows and .tz file for Unix.
2. Download the latest version of Struts2 binaries from http://struts.apache.org/download.cgi.