You're on another typical JavaEE-based project, and you find yourself writing the same old infrastructure code. Are you wondering if there's a quicker way to incorporate the basics such as configuration, logging, and email into your application? If so, then this presentation is for you. By using a number of Apache utilities from Commons, Logging, and other areas, you can learn how to stop re-inventing the wheel. We'll start with a simple Struts 2 application and iteratively add the ability to: • Use Commons Lang for String and Date utilities. • Use Commons Property Configuration to setup and use application Properties. • Use Commons Logging and Log4J to log messages. • Generate Excel spreadsheets with POI. • Use Velocity Templates and Commons Email to format and send email messages. • Use HttpClient to invoke web apps with HTTP/S. • Use Commons IOUtils to simplify accessing web content.

1. Apache Utilities at Work Tom Marrs