Technical Pickles

The first presentation I attended was "JavaServer Faces: A Whirlwind Tour" by David Geary.

Like almost every Java web developer out there, I was working with Struts at one point. It was a dark age for me (and still is for a lot of people!).

I since moved on to use WebWork, and now Stripes. If there's anything that you can give Struts for, is it really brought the MVC pattern to the forefront. Some might say it demonstrated how not to do a MVC ;).

So what about JSF?

• A web framework, like Struts
• Server-side components, like Swing
• A 'standardized' framework, ie included as part of JEE 5.0
• JSP-based (although, this was highly contended in the expert group, and basically forced by Sun)
• Low learning curve for Struts developers
• Several key contributors to Struts eventually found their way to working on JSF

I'm trying to think when my first contact with JSF was, and I think it was near a year and a half ago. We were looking to switch web frameworks, and were considering Tapestry and JSF. We ultimately ended up with Tapestry. The fleeting impressions I still have is that JSF seemed overrought, and looked unwieldly to use unless you were using tools to support it (ie an IDE). At the time, the tools didn't seem like they were there, which was part of the deciding factor.

So what do I think about JSF now? Well, I might be inclined to at least give a chance.

I've decided to try a daily (or near daily) roundup of links I've come across. The intent, for now, is to fill in gaps between days when I don't get to write up a real post.

• Recapping UI Architectural Patterns Model View Controller is a common pattern you see in Java web frameworks. Less common is Model View Presenter, although I hear it is used in the C# world. It's an informative read to compare the two, as well as some derivatives thereof.
• Opportunity Overload These past few months, I've found myself reading a lot more blogs outside of my typical technical fare. Finances, 'life hacking', productivity, and so on. This post struck a chord with me, and it has me re-evaluating what I'm trying to achieve by being informed on these topics.
• Why Ruby On Rails Succeeded Rails really seems to be picking up steam nowadays. I have found myself particularly enamored with it. This post is a nice retrospective about how it got to where it is.

This format, of course, is experimental. Feel free to leave feedback on the good and the bad.