How To Create Dynamic Web Project Using Eclipse [Step By Step Explanation]

Whether you are struggling to find an Eclipse dynamic web project in your system or don’t know how to launch one, this article will help you. We have answered multiple crucial questions related to dynamic web projects in Eclipse so you can remove your doubts. We recommend bookmarking this post so you can get back to it later. Let’s get started. 

Difference Between Static and Dynamic Web Projects

A common question among students is what’s the difference between static web projects and dynamic ones. Static web projects don’t have Java and its related technologies (JSP, servlets, etc.). They only have essential web development components, such as HTML and CSS. They don’t have external files or databases. This keeps them simple and relatively easy to modify but restricts their functionality substantially. 

Dynamic web projects have more advanced components, such as Java, PHP, ASP, etc. They have a lot of focus on server-side development. Dynamic web projects offer many advantages over static web projects as they can provide more information and functionalities. It would be best if you chose dynamic web projects over static web projects because of these facilities. Dynamic web projects allow you to manage more information and create complex and advanced websites. 

Read: Java Project Ideas & Topics

How to Launch a Dynamic Web Project in Eclipse

Step #1:

First, we’ll start Eclipse and switch to the Java EE perspective. 

Step #2:

Click on the ‘File’ button, which will show you a menu. Select ‘New’ there and choose the dynamic web project option there. Now select ‘Next’ to proceed to the next step.

Step #3:

Now you’ll see a menu pop up where you have to enter your project name. Enter your desired project name. Before selecting the ‘Finish’ button, you first have to take care of the Target Runtime. 

Step #4:

There are three possibilities in this section: you may have the server runtime installed, not installed, or the field might be blank. All of them require different steps. 

First, let’s discuss the situation where you don’t have the server runtime installed. In this case, the Target runtime field wouldn’t have any option configured automatically. So you’d have to click on ‘New’ and get the required Target runtime. 

If you had installed Tomcat 5.0 previously, and the default workbench JRE is JRE 1.4, the software would select Apache Tomcat v5.0 as the default Target runtime. In this case, you don’t have to choose any Target runtime. Click the Finish button to proceed to the next step.

However, it is possible to have the Target runtime field blank. In that case, select Next to head to the Project Facet page and choose Java version 1.4 there. You’d see the Apache Tomcat v5.0 appear in the ‘Runtimes’ section. Please select it and click on Bind to bind the selected Java version to the runtime. Once done, click the ‘Finish’ button, and this still will finish. 

Step #5:

Now that we have given our project a name and have selected its runtime, we only have to do a few formalities to start our Eclipse dynamic web project. When you complete the previous step, you’d see a license agreement, select Yes to accept it, and proceed to the final step. 

Step #6:

Select ‘Yes’ on the new window. It would open the J2EE perspective where you can see your newly created project under the Dynamic Web Projects folder of the Project Explorer. You can see your project’s contents by selecting it, and that’s it. You have now successfully created an Eclipse dynamic web project. 

Also Read: PHP Project Ideas & Topics

Fixing the Eclipse Dynamic Web Project Missing Error

Sometimes people can’t find the option to start a dynamic web project in Eclipse. It is a common error and frustrates many people. If you don’t see the option to launch a dynamic web project, then you should follow these steps to fix this issue:

Step #1:

Open Eclipse in your system and click on the ‘Help’ button. You’d see a menu appear, select the ‘Install New Software’ option there.  

Step #2:

Now you’d see an input field called ‘Work with.’ Add the following link there: http://download.eclipse.org/releases/mars.

However, the link we have shared here is specifically for the mars version of Eclipse. If you have another Eclipse version in your system, you’d have to use a different link. It isn’t tricky. Replace ‘mars’ with the name of your Eclipse version, and you’ll be good to go. 

Step #3:

After you add the link we shared above, and you’ll see multiple folders open. ‘Find the Web, XML, Java EE and OSGI Enterprise Development’ option there and under it, select these three options:

• Eclipse Web Developer Tools
• Eclipse Java EE Developer Tools
• Eclipse Java Web Developer Tools

You’d see many other options but ignore them for now. Once you have selected these options, click next, and the software would start the installation. After the software installation finishes, you’d see a popup that would ask you to restart Eclipse. So, restart Eclipse, and that’s it. When you’d head to Eclipse’s menu now, you would find the dynamic web project option. You have successfully fixed the error in Eclipse. 

Read: 15 Exciting PHP Project Ideas & Topics For Beginners

Final Thoughts

We hope you found this guide on dynamic web projects useful. You can now launch dynamic web projects in Eclipse quickly. If you have any questions or thoughts on this article, please let us know through the comments section below. We’d love to hear from you.

You can learn more about Java and its related solutions on our blog. We regularly share informational and exciting resources (like this one) there. The following are some articles for your further reading.

• How to Code, Compile and Run Java Projects
• Top 24 Java Interview Questions
• 17 Project Ideas for Java Developers

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