Setting up the development environment

To develop web applications to run in the Liberty JVM server, you must install the servlet and JSP feature that is supplied with the CICS Explorer® SDK Start of change , or use popular build toolchains such as Maven or Gradle End of change .

About this task

If you use the CICS Explorer SDK:

With the developer tools for the Liberty profile, you can develop servlet and JSP applications that can run in an instance of a Liberty profile server. The Liberty profile is an instance of an application server that is supplied with WebSphere® Application Server to run simple web applications. It is quick to configure, deploy, and start.

You can also run servlets and JSP pages in a CICS® environment, by installing the web application in a Liberty JVM server. The CICS Explorer SDK provides the tools to develop and deploy Java™ applications for CICS. You can use these tools with the developer tools to deploy Java applications with a web interface to CICS.

Set the target platform to CICS TS V5.x Runtime with Liberty or compilation errors can occur when you create examples in your workplace. See Creating the servlet examples for more information.

Start of change Alternatively, you can use build toolchains such as Maven or Gradle in your IDE of choice. CICS provides a set of artifacts on Maven Central containing the JCICS library and a bill of material (BOM) for you to develop applications for CICS. End of change

Procedure

To develop applications using the CICS Explorer SDK:
1. If you do not have an Eclipse IDE installed, see Installing the CICS Explorer SDK for instructions.
2. If you already have the CICS Explorer SDK installed but did not install the servlet and JSP feature, you can install the feature from the CICS Explorer SDK download archive.
  1. In the Eclipse IDE, click Help > Install New Software.
    Note: Make sure that the option Contact all update sites during install to find required software is selected. The Liberty profile feature has dependencies on other Eclipse components, so you must ensure the update manager downloads and installs those dependencies.
  2. Select the CICS Explorer SDK download file from the list. Click Add. In the "Add site" dialog box, click Archive.
  3. Browse to the CICS Explorer SDK download file and click Open.
  4. Expand IBM CICS Explorer.
  5. Select the check box next to IBM CICS SDK for Servlet and JSP support and click Next.
  6. Read and accept the license information, and click Finish to install the feature. Any dependencies that are not already installed in your Eclipse IDE are also installed.
3. Optional: To test your web applications locally, you can download and install the WebSphere Application Server Developer Tools from the developerWorks® website.
4. Optional: If you intend to deploy EBAs, you must install the WebSphere Application Server Developer Tools for Eclipse. You can also use the Developer Tools to test your web applications locally. For more information about downloading and installing the Developer Tools, see Installing WebSphere Application Server Developer Tools for Eclipse.
5. Restart your Eclipse IDE.
To use Maven or Gradle, your environment must fulfill either of the following prerequisites:
- If you want to use Maven or Gradle with the command line, you must install them on your machine. See Downloading and Installing Maven and Installing Gradle.
- Your IDE must support Maven or Gradle. Such IDEs include Eclipse, IntelliJ IDEA, and Visual Studio Code.

Results

You now have the environment to develop web applications to run in a Liberty JVM server.

What to do next

You can start developing web applications to run in the Liberty JVM server. If you're using the CICS Explorer SDK, you can use the examples that are provided with the CICS Explorer SDK to get started. For more information, see Getting started with the servlet examples.