10 Best Java Web Development Framework

There are a majority of enterprises running Java applications and working on Java web development framework. What remains to be seen is that a number of companies are tied to the conventional web development framework and  haven’t actually started to anticipate what could be the best Java web development framework. Even the JavaOne might hold no unified voice for what web framework is best. There are several easy to use Java web frameworks that are out now a days, and they are too many. Essentially choosing the best web development framework has become more intricate, specifically due to three reasons. On a broader perspective, the web technology landscape has undergone a sea change; far more choice of technology; and changing requirements for modern web applications. After an extensive research we assorted the 10 best Java web development framework that we would like to share with you.

1. Struts 2

Apache Struts 2 is an enterprise-ready web framework for Java application. It has been designed to streamline the entire development cycle starting from building to deploying. Struts 2 is a combined effort of WebWork and Struts communities.  Unlike conventional web applications, it can create dynamic responses. Struts 2 comes with an improved design with clean code for HTTP-independent framework interfaces. Added interactivity and flexibility with AJAX tags gives the look and feel just like standard Struts tags. It doesn’t use Action forms, instead Struts 2 uses JavaBean to capture form input or put properties directly on an Action class. POJO Actions enables class to used as an action class with optional interface.  Plugin APIs for the framework include config browser, JasperReports, JavaServer Faces, Pell Multipart, Plexus, sitegraph, sitemesh, tiles and Struts 1. The framework essentially requires Servlet API 2.4, JSP API 2.0 and Java 5.

Struts 2 could be a great option for small teams looking to learn about the open source tools they use. It’s not for armchair programmers looking for drag and drop development.

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2. JSF

JavaServer Faces (JSF) is a java web application framework established the standard for development of server-side user interfaces for Java EE application. The JSF APIs are designed to leverage tools that would make we application development increasingly easier. It uses a component based approach. JSF uses JavaServer Pages JSP as its display technology, but it can also support other technologies such as XUL and Facelets . The UI is saved on clients request for new page and restored when the response is returned.

JSF has a set of API for representing user interface components and manages their state, converting values, input validation and event handling, defining page navigation and support for accessibility and internationalization. It has two JavaServer Pages (JSP) custom tag libraries for expressing a JavaServer Faces interface within a JSP page. Some of its key features include server-side event model, state management, JavaBeans with dependency injection and Unified Expression Language for both JSP 2.0 and JSF 1.2. JSF 2.0 offers improved support for Ajax by allowing UI logic to run partly on the client and not on the server.

For the latest,  in the public draft for JEE6, Facelets would be adopted as the official view technology for JSF 2.0. This would resolve the life-cycle conflicts with JSP that forced developers to go for workarounds.

Pros

• Java EE standard with lots of demand and jobs
• Initially was fast and easy to develop
• Loads of component libraries

Cons

• Tag soup for JSPs
• Lacks unified source for implementation
• Doesn’t support REST or Security well

3. Spring MVC

It is a layered Java/J2EE framework integrating a number of different technologies and is applicable to wide range of projects. Spring is based on code published in Expert One-on-One J2EE Design and Development. Spring clearly separates business, navigation and presentation logic. It is a proven web mechanism constructed with a clean web tier. Spring MVC allows users to use any object as a command or form object - there is no need to implement a framework-specific interface or base class.  Spring’s features a highly flexible data binding. MVC Model and VIew is based on the map interface that is highly configurable, either via bean names, via a properties file, or via your own ViewResolver implementation. Spring supports controller as an optional command or form object. It has an extremely flexible view resolution that can even write a view directly to the response.

It should be considered a strategic base platform for web application development.

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4. Wicket

Apache Wicket is a lightweight component based web application framework for the Java programming language. Wicket is patterned after stateful GUI frameworks. It features trees of components that use listener delegates to react to HTTP requests against links and forms. With XHTML for templates it separate presentation and business logic and allows templates to be edited with conventional WYSIWYG design tools. Within the framework each component is backed by its own model that represents the state of the components. Wicket might be the best framework for making use of your developers resources.

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5. Stripes

The web framework offers a lot of complex data interactions. It offers powerful type conversion, binding and validation. Stripes has been designed to manage large, complex forms and maps them directly to objects etc.  Stripes requires zero external configuration beyond the registration of one servlet and one filter.  Most importantly, Stripes provides simple and effective solution to common problems such as indexed properties, multi-event forms, localization and use of domain objects in the web tier. It is a compact web development framework with just few dependencies.

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6. Tapestry

It is an object oriented powerful, open-source, all-Java framework for creating leading edge web applications in Java. The framework allows implementation of applications according to the model-view-controller design pattern. Tapestry offers an innovative web application development concept in terms of objects, methods and properties instead of URLs and query parameters. It adopts a modular approach to web development by combining user interface components (objects) on the web page and their corresponding Java classes.

It could be a rescue for those looking to avoid scripting environments such as JavaServer Pages or Velocity. It provides a complete framework for creating extremely dynamic applications with minimal amounts of coding. The web development framework focuses on simplicity, ease of use, and relieves programmers from creating enormous block codes.

For the latest Tapestry offers a new approach with an entirely new code base, centered on Plain Old Java Objects, annotations and naming conventions, and runtime bytecode enhancement.

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7 . RIFE

This is a unique framework for web development and design with tools and APIs to implement commonly used web features. It has been designed for separating tasks during a development cycle, ensuring that each developer or designer focuses on his own tasks.  If needed the any work can be effortlessly integrated with the work of the rest of the team. RIFE’s has a number of independently usable toolkits, which can be integrated to boost productivity. All the declaration and definitions in RIFE is handled in one place in the code. This makes it easy for the developers to reduce code replication, enforce consistency, and ease the maintenance. This results in a loosely coupled and very robust system.

It combines the best of request based and component approach to offer consistent component based object model. RIFE’s design provides the best of request-based and component-based approaches and blends them together in a consistent component object model. The web engine provides a solution that values maintainability without compromising on productivity. Through a centralized site structure, an application can be split up into easily reusable binary modules that can be seamlessly integrated into other projects. There is a wide scope for incremental improvements with little or no risk of unwanted anomalies in the system.

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8. Seam

It’s a powerful open source web application framework developed by JBoss. Seam offers a perfect platform for building rich Internet applications in Java. It is a unified full-stack solution that integrates technologies such as Ajax,  JavaServer Faces (JSF), Java Persistence (JPA), Enterprise Java Beans (EJB 3.0) and Business Process Management (BPM) into tooling. Seam also expands the concept of contexts. All the Seam component are enclosed within a context. The default Seam context is conversation which can span multiple pages and usually spans the whole business flow, from start to finish.  All the actions in a session context is captured until the user logs out or closes the browser. WYSIWYG development in Seam is facilitated through the use of JBoss Tools.

Seam overcomes design issues by eliminating both eliminate complexity at both architecture and API levels. It enables developers to assemble complex web applications using simple annotated Java classes, a rich set of UI components, and XML in parts. Above all, it offers outstanding support for conversations and declarative state management that can introduce a more sophisticated user experience. At the same time it eliminates the common bugs found in traditional web applications.

Exceptionally, Seam features a PDF document creator, e-mailing, graph creation and creation of Microsoft Excel worksheets.
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9. Google Web Toolkit (GWT)

GWT is a Java software development framework that allows web developers to build and maintain complex Javascript front-end applications in Java. The web development framework makes it easy for developers to write AJAX applications like Google Maps and Gmail. Other than a few native libraries, everything is Java source that can be built on any supported platform with the included GWT Ant build files. GWT focuses on reusable, efficient solutions for asynchronous remote procedure calls, Internationalization, history management, bookmarking and cross-browser portability. It allows developers to develop and debug AJAX applications in the Java language with any Java development tools of their choice.  However, due to lack of modularity in JavaScript, sharing, testing, and reusing AJAX components becomes a hassle.

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10 . OpenXava

It is a web development framework for creating Ajax Enterprise applications with Java. OpenXava has been designed by Java developers looking for a productive Java Enterprise applications.  In OpenXava developers have to provide only the JPA classes to obtain a full featured application ready for production. It requires no code generation. It allows rapid and easy generation of CRUD modules and report generation. It also allows the flexibility to develop complex real life business applications as customer relationship, invoicing, accounting packages, warehouse management, etc. It The web framework offers full Ajax support and can be used on application server (Tomcat, JBoss, WebSphere, etc).

It is a faster framework than Ruby On Rails, Spring MVC, or any other MVC framework.

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