Struts2JSF: Framework Migration in J2EE Using Framework Specific Modeling Languages
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Date
2007-05-16T22:23:30Z
Authors
Cheema, Aseem Paul Singh
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Waterloo
Abstract
Java 2 Enterprise Edition is a portable, robust, scalable and secure platform for enterprise
software development based on Java technologies, and embraces open standards through
the Java Community Process (JCP). J2EE development is not very productive because of
the complexity of the platform and the lack of good tool support. Object-Oriented Frame-
works are a reliable design and code reuse approach. Many frameworks have emerged
since J2EE’s release to ease development. Struts has become the de-facto standard, while
JavaServer Faces (JSF) is a new framework, which has been included in the J2EE spec-
ification and hence standardized. Both Struts and JSF frameworks are based on Model-
View-Controller design pattern. JSF takes a similar approach to Struts for the controller
component, but adds to it by providing user interface components with server-side state
for the view component.
This work deals with the problem of migrating an application based on the Struts frame-
work to the new JSF framework. The software migration task is divided into view and con-
troller migration. Controller migration is semi-automated using Antkiewicz’s Framework-
Specific Modeling Languages (FSML) approach. Guidelines are provided for view migra-
tion, which boils down to the problem of componentization. JSF and Struts frameworks
can also be used together where JSF supports the view component while Struts supports
the controller component. Merits and demerits of this approach are also discussed.
Description
Keywords
Framework Migration, Software Migration, J2EE, Struts, JSF, Framework Specific Modeling Languages