Hi folks, In less than 10 days, (potential) customers asked "how does Cocoon compare to Struts and JSP ?" This isn't the first time this question is asked, but it's becoming more and more frequent. So in turn I ask you this question, since my knowledge of Struts is limited to the docs at the Jakarta site.
My impression is that Struts is targetted at web applications (opposed to content publication) in HTML (no PDF, SVG, WML) and that Cocoon has equivalent components (form validation stuff, actions, some XSP taglibs) but can do much, much more. The aim of this discussion not to start a Cocoon vs Struts flame, but to build a document that will go into Cocoon docs to help us to promote Cocoon when such questions arise. The points to address are : 1 - how does Cocoon implement Struts features ? 2 - what does Struts do that Cocoon can't ? 3 - what does Cocoon do that Struts can't ? 4 - can we integrate Struts and Cocoon ? 5 - other items ? Here's my view on these items : 1 - how does Cocoon implement Struts features ? ----------------------------------------------- The main purpose of Struts is to provide a MVC framework in JSP. MVC is about separating application concerns, which is something that is naturally built in and enforced by Cocoon. In Cocoon, the model is some presentation-independent XML produced by generators from almost any kind of source (database, beans, EJB, xml files, etc.), the view is defined by the transformation pipeline (XSL stylsheets, I18N transformer, etc), and the controller is defined by actions. Form validation and flow engine implement the equivalent features in Struts. Struts also offers internationalization features that are fullfilled by Cocoon's I18N transformer and locale management. 2 - what does Struts do that Cocoon can't ? ------------------------------------------- Mmmh... got an idea, someone ? ;) 3 - What does Cocoon do that Struts can't ? ------------------------------------------- Struts in intrinsically limited to what can be done with JSPs, which is producing text output such as HTML or WML. Moreover, it's JSP taglib is very tied to HTML. Cocoon, on the other hand, has a flexible serializer mechanism that allows it to produce any kind of output such as (but not limited to) PDF, JPEG, RTF. The flow engine in Cocoon (in 2.1), by using a real programming language and continuations (the ability to suspend a program), is far more powerful than the action mapping definition in Struts. Finally, Cocoon offers a very flexible and extensible framework that can integrate almost anything, and comes with a lot of features that aren't built into Struts. To name a few : browser selector, flexible form validation, database manipulation actions and XSP taglibs (add other important features here). 4 - Can we integrate Stuts and Cocoon ? -------------------------------------- The JSP part of Struts can certainly be integrated into Cocoon using the JSPGenerator. What about the controller part (i.e. the servlets) ? Thanks for your input, Sylvain -- Sylvain Wallez Anyware Technologies Apache Cocoon http://www.anyware-tech.com mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
