Ajax and sophisticated graphics in Java web-app

Answer 1

Your question is rather confusing--AJAX calls are all client-side, any server-side technology can return data to the client.

That being said, you may try taking a look at Google Web Toolkit.

With the GWT SDK, you write your AJAX front-end in the Java programming language which GWT then cross-compiles into optimized JavaScript that automatically works across all major browsers. During development, you can iterate quickly in the same "edit - refresh - view" cycle you're accustomed to with JavaScript, with the added benefit of being able to debug and step through your Java code line by line. When you're ready to deploy, the GWT compiler compiles your Java source code into optimized, standalone JavaScript files.

Among other things, GWT supports built-in serialization of objects for transfer to your Java servlets, allowing for crazy-easy (the technical term) integration of your GWT client and existing Java technologies.

Answer 2

Homebrewed/3rd-party Ajax stuff with JSF isn't that easy since you have to take its lifecycle and component tree into account. You would need to write your own ViewHandler. Rather look for what's already available. To start, JSF2 already provides builtin Ajax functionality with under each <f:ajax>. There are further also a lot of Ajaxical JSF component libraries, like RichFaces (showcase here).

No wording about Spring as I don't do it.