Did you know that there are far more than 50 web and server-side frameworks out there for Java? And these are just the top ones supported by the majority of the tools community. There are many reasons why you might want to try a new Java web framework.
Here are a few:
- A new project brings different requirements
- An ongoing project isn’t being served by your current framework well
- You are bored at work and accidentally downloaded Struts
- Your sense of adventure knows no bounds and you have to try new tech constantly
...and so on. The good news is that developers are curious and not at risk of breaking anything major--assuming code reviews, code analysis, unit/integration testing and other automated measures are in place. So why not satisfy that curiosity by trying a new web framework for your next app?
This year, RebelLabs produced two reports on Java Web Frameworks. The first, entitled The Curious Coder’s Java Web Frameworks Comparison: Spring MVC, Grails, Vaadin, GWT, Wicket, Play, Struts and JSF, launched our investigation of the 8 most popular Java Web Frameworks. This report, in turn, covered 8 feature aspects--from framework ecosystem to ease of use to UX, look & feel. We ranked each framework according to the personal experiences of the six-person report team, and resulted in a tie between 2 frameworks (read the report to find out more!), but left some readers wanting more...
When we put together the second report on the topic, the recently-released 2014 Decision Maker’s Guide to Java Web Frameworks we added 2 more feature categories that our adoring readers suggested we include--testability and security--and then matched up all 8 frameworks in a use-case showdown based on seven common application types, such as CRUD, eCommerce, prototyping and others. This led to another round of results, in which a single framework defeated all other individuals in the mix… That framework is Vaadin. However, frameworks can often be complementary and when we looked into it deeper we found that a combination of frameworks--like Spring and Wicket, for example--can yield even better results than any single framework.
Check out both reports on RebelLabs, and let us know what you think on Twitter at @RebelLabs