Why Didn't You Use Framework X? Perhaps the only thing more contentious among programmers than the argument over which text editor to use is which web framework to use. There are over 30 different Java-based web frameworks out there to choose from. The dirty little secret of choosing a framework is that they are more similar than they are different. They all follow the same basic MVC pattern. So whether you choose to use Struts, JSF, Webwork, Tapestry, or any of the others, you are doing essentially the same thingusing a MVC framework. While the frameworks all have similar philosophies, they differ in terms of implementation. Rather than choosing one and risk having you get lost in the details of the specific framework, we took the coward's way out and rolled our own MVC. We felt that this would allow us to clearly demonstrate how each J2EE technology interacts, and hopefully avoid the wrath of the jilted framework aficionado. On most projects, we generally go with the framework the team has the most experience with, but you shouldn't feel obligated to choose any of them. We'll use a framework if the added functionality merits the additional overhead, but in the spirit of agile development we'll often use the "home grown" framework presented here for quick and dirty prototypes. By adhering to the basic principles of the MVC pattern, moving from our homegrown framework to a "real" one later in the development cycle is reasonably painless. | 