Convergence in Java web frameworks?
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20020905085532
Driving to work I realized that 3 java standards are converging towards a common framework for web development. These 3 are Struts, JSTL and JSF. Two of these are lead by the same person Craig McClanahan. I find it interesting that the JSTL did not specify a standard for form tags. At first glance doesn't make much sense, afterall is it not the main reason why we build webapps is to provide interactivity. It now appears that form tags are coming to us via JSF.
Driving to work I realized that 3 java standards are converging towards a common framework for web development. These 3 are Struts, JSTL and JSF. Two of these are lead by the same person Craig McClanahan. I find it interesting that the JSTL did not specify a standard for form tags. At first glance doesn't make much sense, afterall is it not the main reason why we build webapps is to provide interactivity. It now appears that form tags are coming to us via JSF.
If you read the JSF spec however, it leaves open how pages are tied together, something Struts is good at.
I've read a lot about WebWork being a superior framework than struts, I think the reason may primarily lie on its superior tag library. The Webwork tag library leverages an EL "Expression Language" just like JSTL. I think the JSTL EL is just as expressive as the WebWork EL, can someone correct me if I'm wrong here? The future seems to be a Struts framework using JSTL based tag library and JSF components. WebWork is better than Struts today, but this lead will eventually diminish.
