Whats your dream Java Open Source Web User Interface stack

Question

I am polling to discover what tools, libraries and systems you would use to build an advanced CMS-like site on.

Imagine a good CMS, or something like the Force.com platform. We want to enable the end user and internal users to create pages using drag and drop selections.

We imagine we need a leading Javascript library. Something that enables the shine, drag and drop features we envision, but also assists us in traditional business application needs such as rich validation and AJAX integration.

Since we want to compoose our pages dynamically, which Java web technology fits us best? Do we hurt our choices if we only consider MVC frameworks? What is the latest thinking on these technologies?

This discussion is limited purely to the presentation layer and web technologies.

What is your dream stack?

What has worked for you and what has not?

What looks promising but you have not had a chance to try yet?

Answer 1

You are taking a very difficult task. 5 years ago my company tried to do something similar as a startup.

They were doing it in partnership with JetBrains company. It was supposed that the result product would be integrated in IntelliJ IDEA. They spent a lot of time (more than half a year) and JetBrains spent a lot of time as well.

And it almost worked but there were too many small issues. And it was impossible to release the product untill fixing them all. So they spent some more time untill the planned budget was over and all works were stopped.

If your company feels enough courage then good luck!