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I have to reinstall firefix due to a broken extension (it was meant for 1.1). As such, I need to write down all the extensions I use so I can install them again later. So here they are:
Well, it looks like with the Final Draft of Java EE 5, the final nail has been placed in JSP's coffin. I suggest anyone using JSP and not drinking the JSF kool aid get out now while there is still time. Alternatives that don't require compiling, are cross platform, and can be modified easily at runtime do exist.
I think Ed Burns sums it up best in some mass email sent out to many in the Java community:
We're pleased to announce the availability of the Public Review of the next versions of the specifications for the Java Web tier. This includes Servlet, JavaServer Pages (JSP), the JSP Standard Tag Library (JSTL) and JavaServer Faces (Faces). Servlet is being developed under JSR-154, JSP 2.1 is developed under JSR-245, JSTL is developed under JSR-052 and Faces 1.2 is developed under JSR-252. The expert groups are working together to improve the alignment between these these powerful web technologies.
Yup -- what some of us feared is now totally certain: JSP is now locked to JSF with no hope of ever improving as a standalone spec. And worse, the Java EE web platform is now bound to a dreadfully immature platform.
I feel bad saying this, as I don't really consider myself an open source hippie, but at this point the only good thing that has come from Sun and the JCP I can really recall is the Servlet spec (and even that is been a bit rocky since 2.3). Thankfully projects like Jetty, WebWork, Hibernate, Spring, Tapestry, iBatis, ActiveMQ, XFire, etc can let us move beyond "J2EE" and simply build "Java-based web applications" that still work, work well, and can work well in many environments.
To J2EE (or Java EE or whatever it is these days): thanks, but no thanks.
Update: I've been linked by JavaLobby and I'm sure this post will upset a few people. For some background on this, please see my open letter to the JSP spec leads from over 9 months ago. Either way, I apologize for the flame-baiting attitude of this post.
I'm just a little annoyed at how Sun operates. I see them strong-arming just like Microsoft, except that at least MS builds a decent centralized platform. Sun just seems to strong-arm their own community! Uh oh, I'm ranting now... bye!
Today I integrated WWPortlet with WebWork 2.2 Alpha (latest CVS) and something amazing happened: everything just worked and, for the first time ever, I saw WebWork working perfectly in a portlet environment.
A huge thanks goes out to Henry Hu who not only created the initial WWPorlet project, but also provided me easy-to-follow instructions for integrating the whole thing with CVS head (he even fixed a few WebWork bugs). This is a truly great example of open source in action!
At this point, I've asked Henry to think about joining the WebWork team and owning the portlet support. If this happens, WWPortlet would likely be deprecated and rolled directly in to WebWork.
On a related note, we're down to only 6 open issues for WebWork 2.2. These are exciting times, and every day we're seeing WebWork evolve from just a "web application framework" to a full-fledged "web development environment". Get ready -- the beta is due this weekend!
I know, Google can do no wrong. But apparently it is also possible that they can suck too. Google Desktop version 2 (beta) has underwhelmed me. Here's why:
Still, it isn't horrible, since I can disable the panels I don't like and add in new ones. But it isn't the most consumer friendly tool just yet. Too bad.