I think there already a lot of projects out there that try to optimize web-development in Java. Instead of starting yet another project I think it would be better to find out which framework is most flexible and has the best design architecture and philosophy and support this project.
So far I have looked at Tapestry5 and Wicket. What I don't like about Tapestry is, that it is currently not possible to write web applications that allow you to "create webapplications", meaning that you can not read the "configuration" of a form from the database and create all kinds of components dynamically. For example I wanted to implement an Admin page in which you can define custom fields (for a configurable community website)...but this is not what Tapestry5 was designed for. What I don't like about Wicket is, that it is like writing normal Java applications - although rich clients applications are being replaced with web-based solutions and there is a fundamental difference between web-applications and normal java applications. If you have a java application as a product, it is normal to employ software developers that work on bug fixes and new features all the time - they constantly develop and it is expensive....everything has to be done by a software developer. An ideal web-application is developed once and the Java code is never touched again for 3-5 years until there are a lot of new features necessary.... but in this time there could be several small changes or complete re-designs...and in that time this should be a pure matter of HTMLing without the need of touching the Java code. If a new input field is added or some new strings.....or whatever....or maybe a new Flash component etc....this should still work without changing the -war file that carries the Java code...only changes in the templates or the database should be made. Wicket does does not really allow this. Or assume you have a web-application you want to sell - and don't want the customer to know Java....they would be really restricted in the changes that are possible. Another advantage of Wicket is that it creates a session for every visitor - no matter whether it is a crawler/search engine that does not need a session or a logged in user.... If there was a coding competition to write a web-application with as few lines of code as possibleI think Tapestry5 would win over Wicket. But with some changes in Wicket and some aspects of Tapestry5, this would be a lot better. What about merging Wicket and Tapestry? Similiar to Wicket with Tapestry templates----? So far most of my projects are still good old PHP code....stupid but efficient. It loads fast when you use file or memory based caching, you can always resolve any kind of bug within minutes and you never end up debugging for 5 days until you find out that it is not possible without any fundamental changes in the core of some Java framework you do not wish to know in detail...... So long... Toby -------- Original-Nachricht -------- > Datum: Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:46:08 -0500 > Von: Trevor Burnham <[email protected]> > An: Tobias Marx <[email protected]> > Betreff: Re: Things I miss in Wicket > Hi Toby, > > I've been considering creating a new project that would split away > from Wicket, refine it and streamline it for similar reasons, > particularly to reduce the number of lines of code that are needed for > common use cases, to make things easier on designers, and to provide > more seamless interoperability with other popular libraries (e.g. > Spring). Do you think you might contribute to such a project? For now, > I'm just testing to see if there's interest. > > Cheers, > Trevor > > On Jan 15, 2009, at 4:44 PM, Tobias Marx wrote: > > > Hi there! > > > > There are some things in Wicket I am missing and I think they could > > improve the framework a lot..... > > > > But just some small background first: > > > > In my opinion the most important things in a web application are: > > > > - as few lines of code as possible, as many as really necessary > > > > - separation of design and web application code and logic > > > > - if a webapplication changes in the design or some small items are > > added this should be possible without needing a java developer.... > > > > > > Therefore I would like to suggest more intelligent templates in > > Wicket: > > > > 1. Pass parameters inside of wicket components eg: > > > > <div wicket:id="myComponent" paramA="blabla" paramB="blabla2"></div> > > > > and make them accessible in the Java code. > > > > This is a way to customize and reuse components purely by editing > > templates > > > > > > 2. Make Strings/Labels accessible directly in templates....to avoid > > redundant code like this: > > > > add(new Label("indexTitle", .....) and instead allow to add > > properties directly. > > > > 3. Pick up components automatically without needing to add them in > > the Java code: > > > > add(new LastPostsPanel("lastPostsPanel")); > > add(new NewsPanel("newsPanel")); > > > > This could be matched automatically > > > > I think Wicket could be better without so much redundant copy&paste > > code...by improving templates.... > > > > Thanks for listening... > > > > Toby > > > > > > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] > > For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected] > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
