Well, as the "senior" struts dudes seem so reluctant to offer
an informed opinion on Turbine vs Struts, here's my fairly
uninformed opinion.
I haven't extensively used either project, but this is what
I have guessed from reading the project descriptions, mail
groups, etc. Any corrections from those who know better
are welcome.
Struts is an *alternative* to Turbine, rather than something that
can be used together with Turbine. They address basically the
same problem (writing web-based applications in java). At some
future time it may be possible to merge the best ideas of each,
but for now each project is going its own way.
Turbine is an effective framework for building web applications;
it provides MVC-style support, and works well with multiple
presentation layers, eg WebMacro/Velocity (html with embedded
commands to insert dynamic data), or Cocoon (XSLT). However:
(a) while java-based, it is not particularly J2EE-ish, so people who
want to be "standards-compliant" may wish to avoid it
(b) it really needs to be engineered into a project from the start.
As an alternative, Struts provides less automated support (ie
writing a struts-based webapp is harder than writing a
Turbine-based one) but plays better with the J2EE standards.
It is also easier to retrofit an existing web application with
struts than to move it to Turbine. And finally, Struts is somewhat
easier to learn than Turbine for those who already know servlets/JSP.
At this point in time, MVC-style frameworks for web applications
are all fairly young, so it makes sense to have a few competing
alternatives. Yes, having competing projects splits the available
developer base, but committing to only one approach can mean
missing the opportunity to discover better solutions in the long term.
Disclaimer: all the above is probably horribly wrong; I'm just
offering it because no-one else seems willing to give a more
definitive answer!
Cheers,
Simon
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ted Husted [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2001 1:23 PM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: Re: Struts and Turbine
>
> I could amplify my opinions, but they would still be only my opinions.
> Your mileage may vary.
>
> The best way to learn more about Struts and Turbine is to try each one
> on for size.
>
> Different people choose different development environments for different
> reasons. Many times it has more to do with the way the developers think
> about a problem then something you can get from a bullet list of
> features.
>
> Jon Stevens has mentioned putting together an actual evaluation of the
> frameworks, and I have suggested that we implement a common test
> application in each, like a kind of "Rosetta stone". But that will
> likely be some time coming.
>
> Sebastien Cesbron wrote:
> >
> > Ted, could you please explain more precisely this comparison ? What do
> > you mean by "results-orientated" and "standards-orientated" and what do
> > you mean by "high-performance omnibus solution".
