如何为 java web 应用程序创建开发服务器

Question

We want to build a java web application (servlets and JSP) with multiple developers for our school project, and I want to optimize the development workflow for a couple of reasons:

1. So we can all work with the same tools and with the same versions (SDK, tomcat-server, MySQL database)

2. prevent the known "but it works on my machine" statement.

3. Set developers up and running quickly, no need to install software on the host machine.

4. Learning purposes.

So what I was thinking to do is to set up a VM and configure it using vagrant to install the proper SDK, tomcat server, and MySQL client-server, maybe even set up a docker-compose file inside the vagrant machine? is that a good idea?

We are not bound to any IDE, and I found some useful vagrant boxes that can help:

https://github.com/ssledz/vagrant-boxes/tree/master/java-dev-environment https://github.com/timofurrer/java-dev

Can I configure the IDE to use my running tomcat-server when the machine is booting, without the need to configure it manually on the IDE?

Is that an overkill? should we create a simpler development server? if so, how?

Now as you may have guessed we don't have a lot of experience with Java web application development or working as a team, but it's a good opportunity to learn, so feel free to suggest a different approach, the main goal here is to get a development workspace we could all use, and following best practices and industry standards.

How could we achieve that?

Answer 1

So what I was thinking to do is to set up a VM and configure it using vagrant to install the proper SDK, tomcat server, and MySQL client-server, maybe even set up a docker-compose file inside the vagrant machine? is that a good idea?

Of course, it is a good idea. Docker became so popular for the same reason.

will it be easier working with eclipse?

IntelliJ IDE and eclipse are equally good and popular. Both of them have some features different from each other. So, the choice of and IDE should depend on your experience with the IDE.

How should we deploy the app to the tomcat server running on the virtual machine? with another server on the host machine?

I suggest you build a CI/CD pipeline using Jenkins. Also, do use some source control software (I recommend git ).

Answer 2

Ok, so What I did was to build on an existing vagrant java-dev box that comes with java and eclipse, and I added a script to install tomcat server 7, and a MySQL database with some mock data.

Here is a link: https://github.com/nati-elmaliach/vagrant-java-development-server