This article shows you how a Java™ 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) application was enhanced with an Ajax-style architecture by using the IBM® WebSphere® Application Server Feature Pack for Web 2.0. Learn how to combine Ajax-style architectures with an existing application without having to rewrite the entire Web application. You’ll also discover some ideas on how to apply the Web 2.0 Feature Pack to your own J2EE applications for IBM WebSphere Application Server. The “Plants by WebSphere” application is among a number of samples that are provided with the IBM WebSphere Application Server Feature Pack for Web 2.0.

The application exemplifies a typical J2EE application and how it can be enhanced with an Ajax-style architecture without rewriting the entire application. The sample application represents a fictitious online plant store where customers can order and purchase flowers, trees, vegetables, and accessories. Take a look at Figure 1, which shows the front page of the Web application

Figure 2 illustrates the architecture of the application in its original form before attempting to add Ajax-style features. The architecture is intended to be fairly typical for a J2EE application running on WebSphere Application Server. At a high level, the application adheres to a Model-View-Controller (MVC) design pattern, which most Web applications follow on some level. A browser accesses the URL for the application, which returns a JSP-rendered HTML page. The browser issues additional requests to the Web application, and servlets are used to control the flow as users move through the purchase request. Enterprise JavaBeans (EJBs) are used to serve model data available on the database.

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