JSP - Separate Design from Logics

Question

I am just starting with coding some JSP, which I find isn't all that different from asp.net or any other "real" web-language / web-gateway. I found this question; Structure JSP/Java code where logic is not in the JSP file. However I don't find it helpful.

My daily work contains of ASP.NET MVC development which is Really the best way I've ever developed web pages. So what I'd like to find is a JSP MVC, however I have some specific criteria, I don't want to install something on the web server or install any packages on the system for it to work, it's fine if i pass some jars with my release, however they have to be free of use and open source.

If there aren't any good MVCs out there, how do you mainly go if you want to separate Code from Design? Very much like the Code Behind in C# ?

Answer 1

There are many MVC frameworks, almost too many chooce from.

Check: Can anyone recommend a simple Java web-app framework?

Answer 2

Spring's web MVC is very good, in my opinion. There's a lot of other great stuff that comes with it, but if that's all you wanted I'd consider it.

Wicket is supposed to be very simple, but I haven't used it myself.

Once you have that, I'd recommend that you learn [JSTL][3] to keep scriptlets out of your pages, CSS for separation of content from style, and SiteMesh for composing pages using the Composite and Decorator patterns.

[3]: http://www.amazon.com/JavaServer-Pages-3rd-Hans-Bergsten/dp/0596005636/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232708134&sr=8-1"Hans Bergsten is the best"