Why should I learn and use struts?

Question

I'm a java developer, not seasoned, but I am familiar with most concepts reasonably well.

I recently built a website using Tomcat/JSP (~30 dynamic pages). I made the newbie mistake of including large sections of core logic in the JSP, using the rationalization that it's "just a simple project".

I learned the hard way. So I'm re-building the app now in google app engine using servlets and planning to use Velocity to implement it using a Model-View-Controller design pattern.

I'm also looking at Struts, but haven't used the framework before.

Can someone convince me why I should incorporate struts into this project? Is it really going to buy me a lot for a medium sized project of one or two people?

There is a clear cost in an extra learning curve with strut, will the benefits outweigh the costs? Or will the use of Velocity be enough to segregate the logic? Opinions?

Answer 1

I would look longer term than this project. As you saw, first time you use any technology is largely about making mistakes and learning from them. So this first project won't likely be a shining example of Struts usage once you're done.

Using Struts (and Tiles from what you indicate was a main concern: JSP copy and paste) will however be an excellent delve into "proper" MVC, i.e. it forces you to do things in a particularly structured way, and one which I happened to appreciate a lot, I was a big Struts fan.

That said, there are other options, e.g. Spring contains Spring MVC plus much much more. If you're going to invest in overcoming a learning curve, think about which framework will most benefit you overall in the medium term: which frameworks do employers in your area tend to look for, for example? At this point in time, I would go with Spring where I feel the momentum is but Struts is very good at what it does.

Answer 2

If you're going to learn a framework then I'd recommend Spring MVC over Struts. The learning curve isn't too steep and there are lots of Spring resources available on the internet.

Once you've got Spring in place you will find your application is much simpler to maintain and support. You'll also be able to add enhancements, like security, a lot easier.

Answer 3

Why you should learn Struts? My answer is: because employers often require knowledge of it, especially for maintaining of older projects. I didn't make any precise measurements, but I think that at my region JSF and Struts are used for web application development most often.

Struts is a quite old web framework, and it's quite clumsy to write modern AJAX GUIs with it, so there were created better frameworks. JSF is for me a bit less clumsy, but also has some problems. My favourite web frameworks are Vaadin and GWT, but I'm not suggesting anything for you - you should make the decision by yourself.

Answer 4

Learning to separate the logic is excellent. You can do that without using Velocity, Struts or any framework whatsoever, and you'll likely learn more about what it takes to do this separation if you try it with minimal help first.

Learning a framework (in fact multiple frameworks) is also worthwhile, but I wouldn't personally choose Struts as a first framework unless it's the one used by your employer or a prospective employer. If your employer is using Struts, I hope it's Struts 2, as Struts 1 is getting ancient.

The framework I like to work with the most is Wicket, but it's a radical shift from what you're currently looking at. SpringMVC is also definitely worth a look.

If your employer is already doing web development in Java using a framework, try to learn the framework that's actually in use, and ask your co-workers for help learning it.

Answer 5

First: don't let the name confuse you: Struts2 is a different product from Struts.

Second: changing from JSP to Velocity can be a good or bad decisition, but that's not exactly the point. The point is to switch away from Model1 (rather ancient nomenclature, but still useful), that is, decouple for view technology from your logic processing. (You can use JSP or Velocity for your view tecnology). But, to decide your view technology is just a part of your architecture: you still must decide who will process the request and produce the data that will be sent to the view. The most basic option is to use plain servlets, but, again, it's better to use some framework. For this, there are a lot of frameworks in Java. The "action based" ones are a subset among them, perhaps the most simple to learn. AMong them, the most old is Struts; today the most used for new projects are (in no particular order) Struts2 , Spring MVC and Stripes - they are quite similar.