ClassMediator vs. mediators as Axis2 services

[ant elder]

Is the ClassMediator really needed?

In yesterdays IRC chat there was some discussion about mediators being Axis2 services vs. the ClassMediator which calls a Java class directly without going through an Axis engine. It was said the ClassMediator is easier to use as you don't need a service xml and is faster.

Are these the only reasons for having the ClassMediator? Wouldn't having Synapse auto-deploy to Axis2 (as Glen suggested) fix the complexity problem, and if it really is so slow going through an empty AxisEngine shouldn't we try to get the Axis2 guys to fix that instead of us just not using Axis? Surely a pass through an empty engine should just be a few empty loops and a bunch of if statements which shouldn't add so much overhead?

One thing this would help with is with the addressing stuff. i don't really like having <engage-addressing-in/> explicitly in the Synapse XML. Shouldn't Synapse just know when addressing is required? If you have a Mediator the routes based on a WSA header then if the mediator was an Axis2 service the addressing stuff could be engaged automatically on the pass through the engine.

   ...ant