Which web Tier Framework for a public commercial website with heavy load ?

Question

Hello everyone,

As a part of an enterprise architecture exercise, i need to find a java-based framework filling these constraints :

1. heavy (i think) load : 5000 concurrent connections
2. widely known : can't be too exotic, the contractors would be too high priced.
3. relatively easy to use : developpement time must be reasonnable
4. must be as compliant as possible with the css/html layout produced by a designer
5. Must look like "web 2.0" from the marketing point of view.

What i learned from my limited experience is :

• jsf : 1, don't know. 2, 3 ok. 4 not ok (at least not without huge effort)
• wicket : 1, not really. 2, 3 and 4 ok.
• gwt : 1, don't know. 2, 3 ok. 4 not ok (but more ok than jsf)
• others : not really "web 2.0" or not really known

I'm really junior, so my ideas about those frameworks are probably wrong, that's why i come to you, stackoverflowees.

Thanks for helping :)

Answer 1

Do checkout the http://playframework.com.

a relatively new in the java web-frameworks landscape, but its really easy to learn, and quick to develop applications with.

although I can't comment on the "heavy traffic", criterion for it.

Answer 2

I think that, given #2, #3 and #4 (you can't do exotic but funny experiment, right?) you could take a look to SpringFramework for the java backend and to JQuery for the javascript front end.

I have a good knowledge of both these frameworks, I've been using the for 3 years, they aren't difficult to implement and to customise for your needs, and there is a lot of people out there who use and know them. In addition, given the frameworks you mentioned (that I think you know, don't you?), by using Spring and JQuery you could learn a lot and look at a web application from another prospective.

I don't have real work experience with the stuff you mentioned, I just had a look to GWT some time ago, but I know their develop pattern. It depends from your job, for example I've always been curious about GWT but I couldn't use it because it looked still too experimental to my boss and to my co-workers :-( So maybe Spring+JQuery doesn't look so "2.0" but it is really strong, and as I wrote maybe can help you to wide your point of view.

Answer 3

ok, i'll use wicket.

Although they says in many places that wicket does not scale well, i found evidence that it's clearly doable : check here

I agree it's not obvious to make it scale, but with a little training and at least one expert, a team can do it, and the other benefits of the framework make wicket a viable choice i think.