Java EE (Enterprise Edition) frameworks are powerful tools to create complicated and broad bodies of enterprise applications.
Java is already one of the most popular and trusted programming languages for developers. In recent years Java is enhancing and comes with new updates and features that encourage Java programmers to develop enterprise level web applications, create apps for Windows, and third-party applications.
Well, we usually don’t think Java is an only language to create powerful web applications. But in the market, there are various high-quality frameworks which enable to create web applications. The Java Virtual Machine is a reliable and trustworthy platform, and it is supporting the ROWA (Read Once Write Anywhere) process in web development.
Let’s take a look at the following frameworks to develop complex applications.
Spring
The Spring, by Pivotal, is the most used and well-known framework. It is an inversion of the container and controlled by the Java programming language.
This framework has integrated advanced features, resources, and utilities. Developers use these resources to create almost any type of applications. The spring framework runs on the JVM and works well with other programming languages like Groovy and Kotlin.
Spring framework used to perform recurring tasks in programming such as data processing, messaging, and security. You might be able to produce the business logic of development. The configuration of the Spring framework is very complicated to other framework’s, but it has many advanced features to provide useful enterprise edition applications.
Highlights
- Easy test-ability and Backward compatibility
- Supports a large number of packages and classes
- Provides efficient Eco-system and community
- Useful documentation to learn the framework more effectively
- Enables to lead flexible code base like Plain Old Java Objects (POJOs)
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Hibernate
Hibernate is another most popular Java Framework. It is also called Object Relational Mapping (ORM) framework of Java and widely used to built database structures. Hibernate provides query language for database management called HQL
This framework provides smooth integration between the databases and Java-based web applications. It is available for free like open-source but under the GNU general public license 2.1.
Highlights
- Provides a secure and robust application base
- HQL integrated with Independent database commands
- It offers collections like Set, Map, and List to enhance applications
- Simple to change data into multiple databases.
Struts
Apache Struts is a free, open-source, and MVC framework, which used to build elegant and attractive Java applications. It is used MVC, i.e., Model View Controller, to develop interactive Java-web applications.
The Apache Software Foundation develops the Struts framework, and it has a secure plug-in architecture, and it enables to extend the framework by creating JAR files to the classpath of Java-web applications. The framework integrates with various plugins, and many of these plugins will let you incorporate Struts with different Java frameworks like JSF, JUnit, Spring, etc.
Highlights
- It works efficiently with SOAP, AJAX, and REST API’s
- Possible integration with other frameworks via plugins
- Create web applications using simple, POJO actions
- Supports different types of templates and themes
- Well-tested and Stable framework
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Google Web Kit (GWT)
GWT stands for Google Web Toolkit and its one of the most popular web framework, and it is mainly used to develop client Java code and extend it to as JavaScript. It is completely open-source. The popular Google applications such as Adsense, Adwords, Google Wallet, and Blogger are built using GWT.
This framework supports developers to build and test Ajax applications using Java. It is also encouraged to develop complex web applications used in banking and trading etc.
Play
Play web framework is a reactive, lightweight, user-friendly, and stateless structure enables to develop scalable web applications quickly with Java & Scala.
Play is created using Akka open-source toolkit, and it runs on the JVM (Java Virtual Machine). This toolkit equipped with essential tools and features and gives better user-friendly interfaces, which include design, test, and quickly write in code formats for developing web applications. This framework has increased the productivity of development.
Play framework follows the principles of Reactive manifesto. Therefore it is allowed to create loosely coupled web applications.
Highlights
- Developer productivity is very high
- Secure configuration
- Enormous Ecosystem
- No Java EE sessions, and complete stateless connections
- Available with unit testing, Selenium, and JUnit
Grails
Grails is a Groovy-based framework, and it means developers will be able to develop applications using Groovy language. And also it is open-source.
The main aim of Groovy language is to enhance the developer productivity and enables the Oops concepts to build applications. And it is made one of the sides of spring boot and took time-saving features from spring boot.
Learning Groovy is easy. And it is easy to integrate other Java components and features. It has a friendly community and offers various kinds of plugins (more than 900) are managed by community level.
Vert.X
Vert.X contains broad capabilities. and supports many other languages but primarily built for Java. Moreover, if you use Groovy, Ceylon, Ruby, or JavaScript, then you are allowed to use those on Vert.X framework. One of the essential facts is to consider that it is a library and not a container.
Highlights
- Event Driven run time, Non-blocking
- Easy to use scalability and concurrency
- Polyglot (supports several languages)
Apache Wicket
Wicket is also called as “Apache Wicket” because it is accessible through Apache Software Foundation. It is a lightweight web framework and a brilliant user interface. It is open-source and used to create server-side web applications scripted in Java.
Everyone can easily integrate with the HTML language, which enables to create simple Html pages, and which is going to decrease the complexity of development. This framework contains powerful test applications to enhance the productivity of development.
Highlights
- Support HTML and Java languages
- Easy to write and organize your code
- Debug to test particular components of your code
- Documentation and Support
JavaServer Faces
JavaServer Faces technology leverages existing, standard UI and web-tier concepts without limiting developers to a particular mark-up language, protocol, or client device. It is developed by Java Community Process under JSR – 314.
The UI component classes included with JavaServer Faces technology encapsulate the component functionality, not the client-specific presentation, thus enabling JavaServer Faces UI components to be rendered to various client devices.
Conclusion
Java is a well-known and most used programming language in the world. As we already discussed so many frameworks which are built in Java to develop various applications in suitable environments.
So the next question comes to your mind is to select which framework among the above mentioned to build web applications effectively? As a beginner and if you don’t have any idea about how to use web frameworks, then you need to select a structure which is easy to learn and develop. After getting experience, then you should choose others as per your requirement.