Top Java Web Frameworks in 2024: Spring, JSF, GWT and More
This article reviews the most popular Java web frameworks, ranking Spring, JSF, and GWT at the top, introduces additional options like Play!, Struts, Vaadin, Grails, and provides sample code and setup instructions for each, helping developers choose the right tool for their projects.
21st Century Technology Officer Community introduces Java, a language with over 20 years of evolution, whose numerous web frameworks aim to reduce repetitive coding and lower the barrier to building robust applications.
The ranking is based on Hotframework.com, supplemented by blog posts and GitHub download statistics.
Top 3 Java Web Frameworks
Spring – http://projects.spring.io/spring-framework/
JSF (JavaServer Faces) – http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javaee/download-139288.html
GWT (Google Web Toolkit) – http://www.gwtproject.org/
Other noteworthy Java web frameworks include Play!, Struts, Vaadin, and Grails.
Additional popular Java tools that are not web‑specific but still essential are Hibernate (data‑centric), Maven (build‑centric), and Apache Ant with Ivy (build‑centric).
Spring Framework
Spring is more than a web framework; it provides a complete programming model built on the Java stack. Spring Boot enables rapid application startup with minimal configuration, while Spring Cloud offers components for building resilient cloud‑native services.
Creating a simple Spring Boot web application with Spring Initializr generates a ZIP containing the following files:
./mvnw.cmd
./pom.xml
./.gitignore
./.mvn/wrapper/maven-wrapper.properties
./.mvn/wrapper/maven-wrapper.jar
./mvnw
./src/test/java/com/example/demo/DemoApplicationTests.java
./src/main/resources/application.properties
./src/main/java/com/example/demo/DemoApplication.javaA basic controller (DemoController) looks like this:
package com.example.demo;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
@Controller
public class DemoController {
@RequestMapping("/hello")
public String hello() {
return "hello";
}
}The corresponding HTML template (src/main/resources/templates/hello.html) can be:
<!DOCTYPE HTML>
<html>
<head>
<title>Hello World</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
</head>
<body>
<p>Hello World</p>
</body>
</html>JSF (JavaServer Faces)
JSF is the official Java EE specification for building component‑based web user interfaces. It debuted in 2004 (JSF 1) and was integrated into Java EE 5, using JSP as its view technology. JSF 2 arrived in 2009 with Facelets templating and built‑in Ajax support.
JSF’s component model allows extensions such as IceFaces and MyFaces. Because it adheres to a Java standard, many teams favor it for portability and for extending existing backend code without adopting a new framework.
A minimal JSF application requires a ManagedBean, a Facelet page, and servlet mapping in web.xml:
package helloworld;
import javax.faces.bean.ManagedBean;
@ManagedBean
public class HelloWorld {
private final String world = "HelloWorld!";
public String getWorld() { return world; }
}<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xmlns:h="http://java.sun.com/jsf/html">
<h:head>
<title>Facelets Hello World</title>
</h:head>
<h:body>
#{helloWorld.world}
</h:body>
</html><web-app>
<servlet>
<servlet-name>Faces Servlet</servlet-name>
<servlet-class>javax.faces.webapp.FacesServlet</servlet-class>
<load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
</servlet>
<servlet-mapping>
<servlet-name>Faces Servlet</servlet-name>
<url-pattern>/faces/*</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>
</web-app>GWT (Google Web Toolkit)
GWT, sponsored by Google, lets developers write client‑side Java code that is compiled into optimized JavaScript. It shares some goals with JSF but focuses on rich web UI development. GWT can integrate with REST APIs and is often used alongside Angular for complex front‑ends.
Conclusion
Java offers a rich ecosystem of web frameworks. While Spring, JSF, and GWT are among the most popular, the best choice depends on project requirements and personal preference. Switching between frameworks later can involve significant effort, so understanding each framework’s strengths early on is essential.
Author: 春雨 Source: 21st Century Technology Officer Community
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