Re: What is the most popular java framework for web applications
?
tomjbr.56770318@bloglines.com wrote:
Are there some kind of strong indicators (or only totally wild
guesses) about which java web frameworks are likely to be the
dominating ones in the next years to come ?
David Segall wrote:
I decided that the answer to the last question is Java Server Faces.
My decision was based on the content of both the Sun
<http://developers.sun.com/> and Oracle
<http://www.oracle.com/technology/index.html> developer sites and the
free development tools they provided. Although not so obvious, the IBM
site <http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/> seems to confirm the trend.
I'm a newcomer to both Java and web applications so my conclusion is
based entirely on my reading and not on industry experience. I was
also influenced by attempting to read a book on Struts which was very
heavy going compared to writing some elementary JSF code :)
I've been working with JSF for the past several months, having experience with
Struts and "Model 2" programming without a framework. I see why JSF is
gaining traction, and I agree with the prediction.
JSF has actually been around for a couple of years. Given the conservatism
with which folks adopt new Java stuff, like versions of the language, and the
JSF learning curve, I'm not too surprised at the delay in adoption. Given the
power of the framework, I'm not too surprised that it survived and is growing.
The key for me was thinking of JSF as a full-fledged GUI component framework ?
la Swing, not just another JSP markup-template language. Then I discovered
the multiplicity of JSF-based projects like Tobago, and the ease with which
JSF components work with AJAX and Javascript generally (it loves the DOJO
toolkit), and the readiness with which one can do somewhat more advanced
binding of tags to methods or logic classes, even to write new JSF components,
and I became a total convert. JSF allows me to do great things solo that I
would have needed a team to accomplish previously.
I believe quite a number of Java practitioners are making similar discoveries
and are training themselves up on JSF. Once the developers grab onto such a
thing /en masse/, its adoption or even dominance in production becomes nearly
certain.
--
Lew