Controller (MVC) Tips for Java Servlets / JSP

I was inspired by a face-to-face technical interview awhile ago that is why I am writing this down.

To avoid having the Servlet’s doXXX() methods clogged, use reflection by breaking down your controller code into modules. Here’s how.

You must have the following.

1. Reflection Interface (ServletHandler.java) - An interface for reflection. Nice definition!
2. Main Servlet (MainServlet.java) - A class extending HttpServlet.
3. Module Handler (CreditHandler.java) - A class containing the module’s controller code, for this example, the Credit Module.

in file ServletHandler.java,

import javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet;
import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
	
public interface ServletHandler {
    public abstract void setServlet(HttpServlet servlet);
    public abstract void handle(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response);
}

in file MainServlet.java,

protected void doGet(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws ServletException, IOException {
...
    Class HandlerClass = null;
    ServletHandler handler = null;
	
    try {
        //assuming handlerClassName was defined beforehand as CreditHandler
        HandlerClass = Class.forName("com.eradicus.diamondbank.controller." + handlerClassName);
    } catch (ClassNotFoundException classNotFoundException) {
        //some logging facility here
    }
    if (HandlerClass != null) {
        try {
            handler = (ServletHandler) HandlerClass.newInstance();
        } catch (InstantiationException instantiationException) {
            //some logging facility here
        } catch (IllegalAccessException illegalAccessException) {
            //some logging facility here
        }
	
	if (handler != null) {
               //set executing servlet
		handler.setServlet(this);
               //switch control
		handler.handle(request, response);
	}
    }
...
}

in file CreditHandler.java,

public class CreditHandler implements ServletHandler {
    //use this if you need some attributes / methods from the executing servlet such as connection methods, application variables, etc.
    private MainServlet servlet;
	
    public void setServlet(HttpServlet servlet) {
        this.servlet = (MainServlet) servlet;
    }
	
    //this is where the control comes in after invoking handler.handle() above
    public void handle(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) {
        //some good code here
    }
}

There you go. I hope that helps. God bless.