Java EE vs Spring Framework

Editor's Notes

• #6: http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/websphere/library/techarticles/0707_barcia/0707_barcia.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_EE_version_historyA brief history of J2EE / Java EEBefore J2EE (Mid 1990s)Many competing products, In-house frameworks, Fragmented server side market, real danger of vendor lock-in, expensive solutionsGlory days of J2EE (1999-2003)Release of J2EE 1.2, 1.3 & 1.4Specifying first and then implementingStandardization of server side java enterprise technologiesEnterprise Java gains a reputation of complexityDecline of J2EE (2004- 2008)Projects fail due to flaws in platformRise of open source – Spring Framework, Seam, AspectJ, HibernateMove towards lighter weight solutionsRise of Java EE (2007 - Present)Emphasis on user Component model not just a deployment platformDeveloper productivity & ease of use enhancements Extensibility and right sizingTraps that created complexityDesign by committeeEverything has to be standardizedTools can make complexity acceptableLack of openness to other platforms, sources of ideasLack of developer freedom to hack the platformIvory tower architectureEJB Programming model was the worst offenderNaïve ORM solution & Broken persistence modelIdea that all business objects should be distributedRigid API interfaces, Difficult to unit test, Needed IDE toolingGlutton for XML & boilerplateJSF 1.2 ShortcomingsNo integration with EJBsNo templating support (before 1.2) Transparent to HTTP RequestsDifficult to create custom componentsLacks conversation scope & advanced componentsWeak page oriented supportOverly complex lifecycleJSP & JSF inherent mismatchJava EE pioneers innovations in server-side JavaA widely deployed but much maligned platformSpring, along with Hibernate, brings POJO programming, IoC and testability to the mainstreamJava EE 5 adopts ideas, as well as annotations and convention-over-configurationHibernate standardized into JPA, Spring remains nonstandard but adopts Java EE features to a degreeJava EE 6 matures ideas in Java EE 5 in addition to pruning and profilesCDI, JSF 2, JPA 2, EJB 3.1, Servlet 3, JAX-RS major API changes
• #8: Context abuse HttpSessionSo many beans so little common groundAddresses long standing challenges with Java EE
• #9: http://blog.springsource.com/2011/02/11/spring-framework-3-1-m1-released/Bean definition profilesUnified property management through Spring's new Environment abstractionEnhancements to Java-based configuration with @Feature methodsExpanded MVC namespace support and a Java-based configuration equivalentStreaming support and new interception model for the RestTemplate APIComprehensive caching supportNew c: XML namespace for concise configuration of constructor injection
• #10: Applications developed against commonframework(s)– common programming model– common configuration model• Adapted onto target platform at runtime– using common service abstractions– thread pooling, service lookups, etc• Strict separation between applicationcomponent model and platform services– clear boundaries and separation of responsibilitieshttp://www.springsource.org/aboutThe most complete lightweight container, providing centralized, automated configuration and wiring of your application objects. The container is non-invasive, capable of assembling a complex system from a set of loosely-coupled components (POJOs) in a consistent and transparent fashion. The container brings agility and leverage, and improves application testability and scalability by allowing software components to be first developed and tested in isolation, then scaled up for deployment in any environment (J2SE or J2EE). A common abstraction layer for transaction management, allowing for pluggable transaction managers, and making it easy to demarcate transactions without dealing with low-level issues. Generic strategies for JTA and a single JDBC DataSource are included. In contrast to plain JTA or EJB CMT, Spring's transaction support is not tied to J2EE environments. A JDBC abstraction layer that offers a meaningful exception hierarchy (no more pulling vendor codes out of SQLException), simplifies error handling, and greatly reduces the amount of code you'll need to write. You'll never need to write another finally block to use JDBC again. The JDBC-oriented exceptions comply to Spring's generic DAO exception hierarchy. Integration with Toplink, Hibernate, JDO, and iBATIS SQL Maps: in terms of resource holders, DAO implementation support, and transaction strategies. First-class Hibernate support with lots of IoC convenience features, addressing many typical Hibernate integration issues. All of these comply to Spring's generic transaction and DAO exception hierarchies. AOP functionality, fully integrated into Spring configuration management. You can AOP-enable any object managed by Spring, adding aspects such as declarative transaction management. With Spring, you can have declarative transaction management without EJB... even without JTA, if you're using a single database in Tomcat or another web container without JTA support. A flexible MVC web application framework, built on core Spring functionality. This framework is highly configurable via strategy interfaces, and accommodates multiple view technologies like JSP, Velocity, Tiles, iText, and POI. Note that a Spring middle tier can easily be combined with a web tier based on any other web MVC framework, like Struts, WebWork, or Tapestry.
• #11: Both are competent middleware stacks with mostly equivalent functionality but very different approachesJava EE provides a well-integrated solution stack that makes sensible default choices for you and minimizes the amount of configuration requiredSpring is a pluggable framework with explicit configuration, fine grained control and wide-variety of integration with overlapping technologiesJava EE is an open standard, while Spring is an open source tool from a commercial vendorCDI and 3rd party Extensions have provided a standard compliant way to hack the Java EE platformSpring framework weakens integration with application server runtime QoS, such as security, workload management, and high availabilitySeveral implementations of Java EE specifications are available whereas Spring has only ONE implementationPace of innovation is faster in the Spring Framework since Spring is Community driven vs Java EE that is driven by the JCP
• #36: MyFaces CODI is your best friend for CDI based projects.The Apache MyFaces Extensions CDI project (aka CODI) hosts portable extensions for Contexts and Dependency Injection (CDI - JSR 299) for the Java-Platform (SE and EE). CODI is a toolbox for your CDI application (it provides advanced and convenient features e.g. for JSF and Bean-Validation). Like CDI itself CODI is focused on type-safety. It is a modularized and extensible framework. So it's easy to choose the needed parts to facilitate the daily work in your project.The main focus is to provide superior tools which will support you on solving your daily needs of software development with CDI, JSF, BV and JPA. However, you will also find modules which are independent of JSF as well as modules which improve the compatibility with other MyFaces frameworks like MyFacesExtVal. Maybe the most important feature of MyFaces CODI is that it allows you to build a concise and efficient application-architecture.