[jsr-314-open] [ADMIN] Proposal Faces Managed Bean Annotations For Containers that implement Servlet 2.5 and Beyond

[Dan Allen]

> I'll grant that more complicated applications will be easier to manage with
> Seam, Guice, Spring, etc, but one *can* write applications in Plain Jane
> JSF, though they may be simple.  But if the user just wants to write a
> simple application, then that's good enough.
>

I can see the usefulness in having an "in framework" solution that can be
used before the need arises to get into something more complicated...before
you begin to use any more of the Java EE stack.


> We shouldn't hamstring them, or guilt them into throwing more complex IoC
> solutions into the mix just because We Know Better Than They.  FWIW, I
> worked at a shop that didn't use any of the aforementioned IoC panaceas.  We
> used JSF and, if necessary, EJB3.  IIRC, most were simply JSF+JPA, which fit
> the bill nicely.  We weren't writing the next eBay, but they kept that
> mid-size HVAC company, and continue to do so 3+ years after some of them
> written.
>

The problem I have with this viewpoint is that if you take standalone JSF
and compare it to the myriad of alternatives the developer has to choose
from, many of the alternatives are much more attractive. Basically, if it
were that simple of an application, I might not even use JSF (Grials
perhaps). I might not even use Java EE.

What makes JSF so compelling and unique is that it opens the door to the
rest of Java EE, giving a clear integration between web and enterprise
services. It's failure to do that in Java EE 5 is how we ended up with Seam
in the first place.

I just don't understand why we are trying to keep an arms length distance
from Java EE (whether it be 5 or 6). JSF *is* a part of Java EE. It's value
is not in a standalone framework. We can let it be used standalone, just
like JPA, but that should be secondary to the tight integrations it offers
with Java EE. We have to be realistic about what else is available to
developers.

-Dan

-- 
Dan Allen
Senior Software Engineer, Red Hat | Author of Seam in Action

http://mojavelinux.com
http://mojavelinux.com/seaminaction
http://in.relation.to/Bloggers/Dan

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