> I know there are some leading edge JSF and Shale gurus who monitor this list. > I > have a basic > question: Can rich web application interfaces be created in JSF? > > I've looked at MyFaces and Tomahawk (http://myfaces.apache.org/). The source > code that can be > found in the examples at http://www.irian.at/myfaces/home.jsf is perplexing. > I > see data tables, > panel groups, and panel grids for the page layout. I do not see standards > based > CSS design. I > don't see how you could create rich web application interfaces with > externalized > styles using JSF > components. > > I know the concept is that JSF components can be "rendered" for different > viewing devices; > however, I'm not sure the creators of JSF really thought through the process > of > how most web > applications are created. I think the usual case is that a mock up of the web > interface is > created by marketing execs and web designers, then that mock up is "wired" by > software engineers > (in our case we use Struts for the wiring). CSS design is very advanced (see: > http://www.csszengarden.com/). It is unrealistic to think companies are going > to retrain their > web designers on a new technology that is less capable then the one they are > currently using. > > As a specific example, the use of such tags in JSF as, > " " is > horrible. > > I think JSF has missed the mark. Rather than tossing out Struts I think Sun > should have enhanced > Struts by creating a simple process for plugging in web components (perhaps > some > sort of enhanced > Tiles strategy) and they should have also enhanced Struts by adding a better > page flow process > (similar to Spring WebFlow). >
I think that if you take a better look at JSF, you might see Struts, Spring and a reusable visual component framework. To see this you have to look beyond the basic semantics. So, maybe a forward is called a navigation rule and validation is component based verses form based. I've always seen Struts as building blocks for the rest of the application. It provides the foundation, a starting point. Each shop seems to pick and choose different extension points to exploit. JSF provides the same model where extension points in the framework are configured via a configuration file. The framework guts can be swapped with a side of a configuration files. JSF expands on this by providing an API for building visual components that have characteristics of event oriented programming in a request response architecture. The component API is a starting point. The fact that the reference implementation delivers a number of vanilla components is a strength but maybe a weakness. The component API should be seen as building blocks and not as absolute offering. I don't think that Struts would have lead as many projects to success if the developers could not have seen how to take advantage of is swappable parts. > One of the most promising projects for web application frameworks is a > project > named, "Clarity" > (http://www.jsfcentral.com/listings/A6020?link). The goal of this project is > to > consolidate and > enhance existing frameworks. I hope this is the path to nirvana. > > I like the JSF concept of pluggable components. My major problem with JSF is > the design strategy > that states an application is a collection of components and these components > have renderers for > different devices. I suppose that you could try to wrap CSS design around > "" tags if you > are creating a web application, but this seems contrary to the JSF model. > > Please share some guiding thoughts. Especially, if you have a link to some > cool > example pages > created with JSF, I'd like to see them. > You might take a look at the Shale "rolodex" usecases. You will see some fun CSS action delivered using a JSF view. It's all done using only two custom components and a few JSF extension points, the rest is vanilla RI. http://svn.apache.org/builds/struts/nightly/struts-shale/ > Thx. > > Mike > Gary > > > __________________________________ > Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click. > http://farechase.yahoo.com > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >
