JBoss RichFaces is a rich component library for JavaServer Faces and an AJAX framework that allows easy integration of AJAX capabilities into complex business applications. Do you wish to eliminate the time involved in writing JavaScript code and managing JavaScript-compatibility between browsers to build an AJAX web application quickly' This book goes beyond the documentation to teach you how to do that. It will show you how to get the most out of JBoss RichFaces by explaining the key components and how you can use them to enhance your applications. Most importantly, you will learn how to integrate AJAX into your applications without using JavaScript but only standard JSF components. You will learn how to create and customize your own components and add them to your new or existing applications. First, the book introduces you to JBoss RichFaces and its components. It uses many examples of AJAX components which, among others, include: Calendar, Data Table, ToolTip, ToolBar, Menu, RichEditor, Drag'n'Drop. All these components will help you create the web site you always imagined. Key aspects of the RichFaces framework such as the AJAX framework, skinnability, and CDK (Component Development Kit) will help you customize the look of your web application. As you progress through the book, you will see a sample application that shows you how to build an advanced contact manager. You're also going to be amazed to know about the advanced topics you will learn like developing new components, new skins, optimizing a web application, inserting components dynamically using Java instead of XHTML, and using JavaScript to manage components. This book is more than a reference with component example code: it's a manual that will guide you, step-by-step, through the development of a real AJAX JSF web application. What you will learn from this book Create a simple project using the seam-gen tool, with the support of RichFaces, Seam and Facelets Integrate the RichFaces libraries manually in your existing JSF project Import a seam-gen-generated project into your workspace using Eclipse Get AJAX JSF messaging support for JSF AJAX events using RichFaces message and messages components Learn the basics of RichFaces, from creating the project to editing the code, using important components (like a4j:commandButton, a4j:commandLink, rich:dataTable, and rich:messages) and their AJAX properties (like reRender) Develop a fully-featured advanced application for contact management using the RichFaces AJAX framework and its rich components Develop the login and registration system for a web site, looking at all the features like skin management, registration page, login box, forgot username, reset password, captcha, and more Optimize AJAX requests while developing a web application with JBoss RichFaces Add and remove contacts from a group using the RichFaces drag-n-drop support Customize the look of the application by changing the style of its existing skins using CSS and XCSS Create new skins ready to be plugged into your application Use and implement pushing, partial updates, component binding, session expiration handling, and more Develop rich JSF components in a fast and solid way using CDK (Component Development Kit) Approach This is a practical tutorial following the use of RichFaces in a sample application. It includes many examples of the creation and customization of different AJAX components. Who this book is written for This book targets Java Developers who want to enhance their JSF applications by adding AJAX, but without having to use JavaScript. If you want to learn how to use the wide set of AJAX components that you find in the RichFaces framework, this book is for you. You are expected to have basic knowledge of JSF, but no previous experience with AJAX is necessary.