Let me comment on this from a newbie's point of view: We started using JSF with a little project this year and we really went through all this pains/problems, which caused the project almost to fail at all... I think, it is not the common JSF or even the MyFaces documentation responsible for that, but the lack of any documentation about the interdependencies between all the different modules/implementations! The JSF specification defines very flexible extension mechanism, e.g. the chain of variable resolvers, and each of the modules uses them in its own way, which results in situations, where plugging in a new module means to break other functionality, you have just hardly managed to be working correctly. And that does not happen only when using different libraries but also within one library itself. So one configuration might be suitable for the first component, but is definitely not for the next one. This problem is hard to solve especially when several people working in parallel on a library/module in a not really coordinated way!
So maybe it would be helpful, if beside any xdoc documentation providing detailed information about a component there would be some kind of central dependency matrix allowing each one to figure out which components work together safely within a certain configuration scenario, e.g. server side state handling etc.! Unfortunately, I guess, such a matrix cannot be maintained by any interested user like the Wiki, since this requires a lot of inside know how about the whole implementation. BTW: Congratulations! I think, everyone of you does a great job within this project! Regards, CAK -- Carsten Kaiser Principal Consultant mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Mobile: +49 (0)170 5270206 Valtech GmbH Werner-Heisenberg-Straße 2 63263 Neu-Isenburg Germany Phone: +49 (0)6102 88468-0 Fax: +49 (0)6102 88468-28 http://www.valtech.de Geschäftsführer: Ingo Kriescher Amtsgericht Düsseldorf HRB48672 -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- Von: news [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Im Auftrag von Werner Punz Gesendet: Donnerstag, 24. Mai 2007 09:51 An: [email protected] Betreff: Spam: Re: Why so many problems with MyFaces? Simon Lessard schrieb: > Hello, > > I think what Andrew meant is that since MyFaces is not backed by a > corporation, people here are not paid to work on this project. Therefore > they spend there own free time for the community's gain without any > personal gain. Therefore, it's not very diplomatic to come on the list > and speak to us like if we were some evil telemarketing people that sold > you something for a high price and that does not seem to answer your > need or that you do not understand properly, not that you should be > impolite with telemarketing worker either anyway. > > As for documentation, I suggest you take a look at Java Server Faces > (JSF) specification as it's what MyFaces implements. > I think the original poster is right, there still is a lack of documentation (you can never have enough). The main problem really is that there are not really too many people here who can spend a full workweek on everything (is there even one) while all people or most of them are employed myfaces is sort of a sideproject for most people, many of us are bound by real world jobs often not even having anything to do with JSF for long periods of time. So it ends up with following problem, what do you do in the small time you are able to dedicate to this project, write code or write documentation. Hint we are all coders, so documentation always is a second must (which often then lacks or is behind the things) The sandbox is the classical example, around 60 % of the components there are not yet promoted due to one thing, lack of documentation. The Wiki is a classical helper to this situation because it has more up to date information, and people also like to use it more than to send xdoc patches... I wonder if the xdoc format really is the one and only solution to the entire documentation problem. Unfortunately we are not the only ones with this problem, almost all oss projects which are not corporate funded to some degree lack this problem and it is a problem with most OSS projects! But the situation is not that bad, the original xdocs are ok, the wiki has become a very good source regarding myfaces over the last two years since it was seriously introduced and then there is jsfcentral with a load of general information on all topics jsf. The main documentation problem I see currently regarding JSF is on Suns side, funnily. They really have to add some introductorial pages, most of their end user documentation centers around their netbeans tools, unfortunately, which hides a lot of under the hood stuff which you run into once you move away from the toolchain. They should open a beginners section like they did with java in the early days (one part of javas success), they would have the manpower and the funds to do so. Sun succeeds however in some areas, Jacob Hookoms docs regarding Facelets and the links to the articles are the way things should be generally for jsf on Suns site. While they do an excellent work with their toolchain, and the jsf ri generally, they have a huge gap in the docs area, I personally think it is way worse than what the privately initated docs portal of Kito (JSFCentral) and some wikis and oss projects which are basically non funded combined provide.
