Introduction

Deciding which Java web framework to use when developing your applications can be a difficult choice. I‘ve often wondered which one is "best" myself. Since 2004, I‘ve been playing and developing with the top five web frameworks for Java: JSF, Spring, Struts, Tapestry and WebWork. For my most recent opinion on which one is my preferred choice, see What Web Application framework should you use?. You might also checkout the following whitepapers I‘ve written at Virtuas:

• Java Web Framework Sweet Spots (March 2006)
• Comparing Web Frameworks (June 2005)

Presentation

From my learnings, I‘ve created a presentation that you can download (updated September 2006). This presentation will likely improve over time as I learn more about each framework.

The Code

While talking about how the different frameworks do things, showing how they do things is better. For this reason, Equinox contains implementations for a simple CRUD app using all 5 of the aforementioned frameworks. In addition, the download contains JUnit and UI tests for each framework.

• Download Equinox

Demos

• Spring · Spring + Ajax · Spring + Acegi
• JSF + Facelets
• Struts 1 · Struts 2
• Tapestry
• WebWork

More Information

For more information about integrating these frameworks with Spring, as well as a detailed comparison, see Chapter 11 of Spring Live.