Re: keel, spring and other frameworks

Stefan Burkard wrote:

> hi keel-users
>
> i'm looking around since a while to find a java-framework for 
> programming webapps more easily.
>
> until now, i'm using struts, but i'd like to focus on my app and don't 
> like to build up a "framework" myself just to save things to a 
> database or build a login-page and protect functions of my app.
>
> on the other hand i don't want to have a giant monolithic block for 
> things that need just 5 percent of it - modularity is therefore also a 
> serious concern.
>
> as a third main focus, i'm a java-beginner with some struts experience 
> and would be happy about a learning curve, not a 
> "vertical-learning-line" :-)
>
> having these three main "features" in focus, i read articles about 
> keel, appfuse and spring.

This decision is very much about picking your poison.

Keel not only offers quite a bit of modularity, but also a very 
comprehensive component set and good design. And a very sharp developer 
community.

The dark side of Keel is also it's best feature.  Speaking for myself 
personally, I have developed a deep hatred - just as deep as my love for 
- declarative programming in general. When you put stuff in xml 
configuration files learning how to figure out where things are not 
working can be a huge challenge, not just for Keel, for Tomcat and just 
about everything that is written these days. Makes me lache with longing 
for the worst practice of putting everything in Java files where it 
shows up as a compile error.

The other problem with Keel is also it's best feature. SOA in general 
can be a challenge, stateless asynchronous programming makes 
encapsulation and event handling a real head scratcher.

If you start with Keel you start as a community member and inch your way 
in. First weeks can be brutal. But the payoff can be huge. Depends on 
where you want to go, from my perspective.