Introduction to the Wicket Web framework

Each widget in your Web application is created in a Java class and is rendered in an HTML page. The Java class must have the same name as an HTML page and exist in the same source structure. They link to each other through a Wicket identifier. We'll show you later how the IDE supports component-based application development so you can quickly and efficiently create reusable components that will help you easily achieve the consistency of your Web application's appearance.

The software required for this tutorial

Before you begin, you need to download and install the following software on your computer:

NetBeans IDE 6.0 Web & Java EE.

Java Standard Development Kit (jdk™) version 5.0 or 6.0

Wicket Support plug-ins for the NetBeans IDE. The plug-in consists of the following two parts:

ORG-NETBEANS-MODULES-WEB-WICKET.NBM. Provides templates and other Wicket-specific features that need to be used in this tutorial.

ORG-NETBEANS-MODULES-WICKET-LIBRARY.NBM. Provides Wicket jars and installs them in the IDE's Library Manager. Therefore, you do not need to download the Wicket release from the Wicket site, which has provided all the required functionality.

Use the Plugin Manager below the Tools menu to install the above two modules into the IDE.

For more information about Wicket, see http://wicket.sourceforge.net/. For more information about the NetBeans IDE support for Wicket, see https://nbwicketsupport.dev.java.net/. If you are familiar with Wicket, you are welcome to contribute code for the Wicket Support module of the NetBeans IDE.

Setting up the environment

Before you start writing component-based applications, you must make sure that you have all the necessary software and that you have correctly established the project. After you install the Wicket Support module for the NetBeans IDE, a wizard will appear to help you build all the basic files you need for your Wicket application.

Creating a source structure based on a component application

The source structure of our application must include the Wicket JAR file, the Wicket servlet registered in the Web.xml file, and some standard artifacts, such as the application class and the home page. Since we are using the IDE, we do not need to create all of these files manually. Instead, we use a wizard to do the work. In particular, the final panel of the Web Application Wizard is useful in the context of component-based applications.

Select the File > New Project option. In the Categories list, select the Web option. In the Projects list, select the WEB application option. Click the Next button.

In the name and Location panel, type Myfirstwicketapp in the Project Name field. Change Project Location to any directory on your computer.

Do not change other settings. You can also change them if you like. Wicket support for Java EE 1.4 and 5. You can deploy the Wicket application to any server. Click the Next button.

In the Framework panel, select the Wicket option.