On Jan 9, 2009, at 2:26 PM, Scott Ferguson wrote:

<jsp:root xmlns:jsp="http://java.sun.com/JSP/Page" version="2.0"
                xmlns:tags="urn:jsptagdir:/WEB-INF/tags" >
  <tags:test/>
</jsp:root>

To make the analogy clearer, here are the main points:

1. The use of urn:xxx:path to specify a directory/package has existed since 2001 in JSP 1.2.  It is not new with WebBeans.

2. The combination of the namespace URI and local name like ns:name to refer to a file (WEB-INF/tags/test.tag above) has existed since 2003 in JSP 2.0.  It is also not new with WebBeans.

3. The use of XML for bean-style configuration of Java objects has existed at least since 1999 in JSP 1.1 with the Tag library files. 

4. The use of multiple XML prefixes to refer to different groups of Java objects has existed since 1999 in JSP with the Tag library files (which was very progressive, since XML namespaces were introduced in 1999)

4. So we don't need to wonder if users can handle the syntax.  They're already used to it.

5. We don't need to wonder if IDEs can support the syntax.  They already do.

The fact that other JavaEE spec configuration files remained mired in 1999 dot.com-era DTDs is a criticism of the other JSRs, not the WebBeans syntax.

(I'm somewhat amused that I still have EJB 1.1, Servlet 2.2, and JSP 1.0 public drafts dated April-June 1999.)

-- Scott


It's been around for several years.  The urn:jsptagdir:path was introduced in JSP 2.0 (2003).

It's not a new concept at all.

-- Scott

 When I look at faces-config.xml, I see something
that looks like the typical DD elements we've seen in the past:

<managed-bean>
    <managed-bean-name>TestBean</managed-bean-name>
    <managed-bean-class>test.TestBean</managed-bean-class>
    <managed-bean-scope>request</managed-bean-scope>
</managed-bean>

That's not a new style and given that JSPs are defined in the web.xml,
I'm not sure what "new" style you are talking about.  Note, we're
talking about metadata syntax, not the JSP/JSF page source.

Thanks,
Jim Knutson
WebSphere J2EE Architect