How to dynamically generate HTML in Servlet without all the out.println?

Question

Since I am not sure whether this is a Java Servlet or JSP problem, so I will describe my situation. And hopefully someone can propose a good solution. I came from a PHP, so Java Servlet and JSP are still a little bit foreign for me.
My problem
My front end is a JSP page that essentially contains a form (let’s call it form1). The reason it is a JSP not a HTML is because I will need to load form data from the backend and display them in the form. Once the user submits the form, it will go to a backend Java Servlet (let’s call it servlet 1), which loads data from files according to user input. Then, I will need to dynamically create a new form (let’s call it form2) based on the data loaded from files. Once the user inputs and submits form2, another Java Servlet (servlet 2) will do more processing. That is the end of line. Both form1 and form2 require Javascript.
My question is that since servlet 1 will need to dynamically create form2. I naturally will want a presentation control. Instead of doing out.println(“html code”), I want to use JSP and write direct HTML code. On the other hand, can JSP be used as a form action? So basically, in form 1, can I do <form action=”…/xxx.jsp”> I think I saw something like this, but I lack the comprehensive JSP knowledge to know for sure. More importantly, if hypothetically JSP can be used, how do I handle functions such as doGet(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response), which is used in servlet1.
Thank you,
M

Answer 1

no, servlets should not be used to generate a view, that is what a JSP is for. So let your backend servlet fetch the data, put it for example as attributes of the request scope (request.setAttribute()) and then forward control to a JSP that will generate the view, based on the information you stored in the request scope. That is the proper way of using servlets & JSPs; use servlets to invoke business logic classes, use JSPs combined with JSTL to generate the view. If you do it properly, you don't need ANY java code in your JSP.