Introducing to Portlet, Part 1, Definition
Definition
==========
Portal
------
A portal is a Web-based application that provides personalization, single sign-on, and content agrregation from different sources, and host the presentation layer of information systems.
The Portal's Basic architecture
-------------------------------

The portal Web application processes the client request, retrieves the portlets on the user's current page, and then calls the portlet container to retrieve each portlet's content. The portlet container provides the runtime environment for the portlets and calls the portlets via the Portlet API. The portlet container is called from the portal via the Portlet Invoker API; the container retrieves information about the portal using the Portlet Provider SPI (Service Provider Interface).
Page
----
The portal page itself represents a complete markup document and aggregates several portlet windows.
Portlet
-------
A portlet is a Java-based Web component that processes requires and generates dynamic content. The content generated by a portlet is called a fragment, a piece of markup language e.g., HTML, XHTML, WML, adhering to certain rules.
Portlet container
-----------------
A portlet container runs portlets and provides them with the required runtime environment. A portlet container contains portlets and manages their life cycles.A portlet container is not responsible for aggregating the content produced by the portlets; the portal itself handles aggregation.
Concepts
========
Portlet life cycle
------------------
Init: initialize the portlet and put it into service
Handle requests: process and render requests
Destroy: put portlet out of service
Portlet interface
-----------------
init(PortletConfig config)
processAction(ActionRequest req, ActionResponse res)
render(RenderRequest req, RenderResponse res)
destroy()
This information is excerpted from http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-08-2003/jw-0801-portlet.html
==========
Portal
------
A portal is a Web-based application that provides personalization, single sign-on, and content agrregation from different sources, and host the presentation layer of information systems.
The Portal's Basic architecture
-------------------------------

The portal Web application processes the client request, retrieves the portlets on the user's current page, and then calls the portlet container to retrieve each portlet's content. The portlet container provides the runtime environment for the portlets and calls the portlets via the Portlet API. The portlet container is called from the portal via the Portlet Invoker API; the container retrieves information about the portal using the Portlet Provider SPI (Service Provider Interface).
Page
----
The portal page itself represents a complete markup document and aggregates several portlet windows.
Portlet
-------
A portlet is a Java-based Web component that processes requires and generates dynamic content. The content generated by a portlet is called a fragment, a piece of markup language e.g., HTML, XHTML, WML, adhering to certain rules.
Portlet container
-----------------
A portlet container runs portlets and provides them with the required runtime environment. A portlet container contains portlets and manages their life cycles.A portlet container is not responsible for aggregating the content produced by the portlets; the portal itself handles aggregation.
Concepts
========
Portlet life cycle
------------------
Init: initialize the portlet and put it into service
Handle requests: process and render requests
Destroy: put portlet out of service
Portlet interface
-----------------
init(PortletConfig config)
processAction(ActionRequest req, ActionResponse res)
render(RenderRequest req, RenderResponse res)
destroy()
This information is excerpted from http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-08-2003/jw-0801-portlet.html
