Newbie, have many questions

Hi, i bought the book by Marty Hall-Servlets, but i havent used it for a year. But i now see i'll definitely use jsp to build my private website, as opposed to php. Though im not a programmer, i remember java but nothing about php... I need my site to probably be as complex as an online shop, but its purpose will be different, it is for now just to keep my personal files and sensitive info on a remote server. I might want to also use the same ubb board that you are using, even though i dont know anything about php.

So please tell me what software to use? The compiler i plan to use is borland jbuilder, and the server was recommended as apache in that book-is this the best server for speed? Also i don't understand that "tomcat can be integrated into apache server"-does it mean i have to download tomcat and apache? and use tomcat for jsp and apache for everything else?
Also if i were to do something with php or databases, what compilers/editors would you recommend?

Thanks.

Apache is an http server. It serves up files that are requested over port 80. JSP's and PHP files both need further interpretation when being requested, so apache needs to have something 'help' it serve those up. There is a module for php that plugs into apache that is called whenever you request a php file. Similarly, Tomcat is what is called when you request a jsp. It runs the script and then passes the output to apache which in turn serves it to the client (browser).

Technically, tomcat can act as a standalone http server. In other words, you could run tomcat and it would do everything without apache. However, strictly as an http server, apache is faster and more efficient so general practice is to install apache and then tomcat as a plugin.

The IDE you use (jbuilder) is fine. As long as you use something good, it really doesn't matter.

When I was using php, there was no real good free IDE. I used Homesite, which is not really an IDE like JBuilder is.

i wanted to use asp and jsp in a single server like apache and tomcat ..can i do that..i mean the jsp files will call the asp file and upon doing some work it will call the jsp page again.

in the mean while i should not loose any session information which i store from my jsp pages. and passing of data between jsp and asp also.

please help me if itis possible and if so how to do it.
is there a seperate plugin for asp in apache or how to do it. because some of the functionality i have to do it..in asp only.
Ramesh.s

JBuilder is a very good IDE. But be careful that JBuilder comes with proprietary classes. Those classes will not compile in another IDE or tool. Therefore, DO NOT use them.

IMHO, I like to use IDE that does not create a lot of overheads, and I like IDE that is pure Java. My personal choice is Eclipse.

But of course, you are free to choose whatever you are comfortable with.

Hope this helps.

I haven't used Eclipse but would agree that you have to be careful with JBuilder.

the software used here is called vbulletin (check my spelling) and it costs some dough. If you want free forum software i'd go with phpbb2 http://phpbb.com its just as professional looking and its free. you dont need to know php to set it up but it could help if u want to tweak some settings. you will need a database server also (MySQL works great). As far as an IDE goes, i personally like emacs or vim (if you are a windows user then ignore the vim part).

--my 2 cents