Client
- Server - Programs
Client-Server programs are the essential mechanisms that make the Internet what is is today. Almost all services offered on the Internet are based on this client-server model:
Client
- Server - Programs
Client-Server programs are the essential mechanisms that make the Internet what is is today. Almost all services offered on the Internet are based on this client-server model:
 | Ftp: the Ftp client requests a files and the Ftp server gives it to the client who in turn saves it on the local computer. Both speak according to the ftp protocol |
| Web: the Web client (e.g. Netscape) requests information (via a URL), the Web server gives it to the client, and the client interprets the information and displays it on the screen. Both speak according to the http protocol |
| Search Engines: you tell the search engine what you want to search for, the search engine does the work of finding it and delivers it to you (can you see who's the client and who the server ?). Both speak according to some protocol known to both |
In this segment we want to write our own client-server programs. Just as with the TickerTape applet we dealt with previously we will proceed in stages:
| Stage 1 - Echo Client: Most Unix machines run an echo server on port 7. That
server accepts any client and simply echoes back to the client whatever the client tells
the server. Here is
a simple Echo Client, written in Java.
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Stage 2 - A Simple Joke Server: Next we want to write our own server program as
well as the client program. Taking an idea from the online Java tutorial, we will use Knock-Knock
jokes as an example. A typical client-server conversation would look like this:
This time, our program consists of several objects: the JokeClient object, a client program very similar to the previous Echo client, the JokeServer object, the basic server object providing the communications methods, and the JokeHandler object, the object implementing the protocol that client and server speak.
| ||||||||||||||||||
| Stage 3 - An improved Joke Server: Now we want to improve the previous programs
so that we can embed them into a web page. In other words, we must turn the standalone
client from above into an applet, and change the protocol that they both speak somewhat to
accomodate that change. Here are the various pieces that make up the server: the JokeServer object, the basic server object providing the communications methods, and the JokeHandler object, the object implementing the protocol that client and server speak. Here are the pieces that make up the client: the LineClient object, a generic client object that can be used for many client-server applications, the JokeClient object, the client specific to our situation, and the JokePlayer object, which plays a joke interatively inside the JokeClient applet. The client is still a standalone program and needs to be compiled and run via the javac and java commands. However, since the client is an applet, you can actually see how it works by clicking here. The server has been installed previously on a Unix machine so that it can communicate with this client. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Stage 4 - the (almost) finished version: Before I'll show you the code, take a
look at the client part yourself. The password for adding, modifying, or deleting jokes is
JamesBond007 (notice the capital and small letters). Why don't you try to
add your favorite knock-knock joke to the joke database, and, in the process, maybe find
out what the one big mistake with that (almost) finished applet is. Again, the server has been installed previously so that your client can connect to it. In fact, the server for this version understands more commands than the one for the previous version, but it is 'downward compatible' with the previous server. Thus, only one server runs and serves both the improved and the finished client. Try it by adding a joke in the finished version and seeing that joke in the improved version. |
