Java / Jakarta EE web development, where do I start and what skills do I need?

Does java have MVC?

Java has different frameworks like Struts2, Spring MVC

what about JSP?

JSP is template library. There are few alternatives you may try like FreeMarker and Velocity. AFAIK Freemarker is a emerging as good template library. Its lightweight than JSP. Check this FreeMarker: An open alternative to JSP - JavaWorld

can MVC and JSP be together?

I take MVC as a framework mentioned previously. All frameworks have support for JSP but you need to check support for other template libraries in respective frameworks documentation. AFAIK Struts2 to has a very good support for Freemarker.

beans?

I do not know much about it. But using beans we can directly map form data to databases.

Maybe a book that covers all of these?

Each framework has its own book. For Struts2 - Struts 2 in Action

String MVC - Take a look at these questions recommending books for Spring and Spring MVC. Book suggestion for Spring framework and Spring Books: Which one to choose

Fremarker has a very good documentation - answered 2009-12-24T16:51:01.473

• Play is an MVC framework which is focused on being lightweight, straightforward, and enabling rapid development — while sticking with pure Java, as opposed to a more dynamic JVM-based language. It's fairly new but already impressive, and a good community has built up around it quickly.

• Grails is an MVC framework, inspired by Ruby on Rails, which is written in, and uses, Groovy, a Java-based scripting language. Grails is mature, robust, and widely respected, with a strong community. Groovy is basically a superset of Java, with better syntax and some great features such as closures, so learning it is a great way to learn Java.

• If you need/want to build RESTful web sites/services/applications, Restlet is a fantastic framework — I'm a big fan. It's simple, straightforward, and yet flexible. Great community too.

• Google's App Engine is an interesting option as well. It's hosted, which may or may not be of interest, but it has a fairly simple API, and a good SDK.

I'm sure there are others, but these are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

Good luck, and have fun!

I'm a PHP/C programming and I've found groovy enable to me to jump into Java without learning all the classes and paradigms inherent in java programming. Groovy enabled me to be productive quickly, while taking time to learn more about java and all the tools/frameworks/libraries available.

Since you are new to Java I would strongly recommend you learn the basic language first. This will help you regardless of what technology you choose to do your web application in.

A good online resource is the Sun Java Tutorial - http://java.sun.com/docs/books/tutorial/