The Pragmatic Craftsman :: Simplicity from complexity ::

What is JavaServer Faces? Do you know what Struts is? No? Then you must have been on a vacation for a while, huh? Anyway, Struts and JSF are competing technologies. They’re basically implementations of MVC (you have to know Model View Controller).

I’ve done several examples with Struts and I must say that it’s OK. I’m not a big fan of Struts.

JSF, on the other hand is different. It has the better things out of Struts, it is easier to use, and it’s a standard. Plus, JSF will be included as part of J2EE 1.5 coming out next year. I must say I’m a big fan of JSF and I think it will be big over the next couple of years. Learn it, compare it, and use the better one.

There is a lot of coverage on JSF lately. Here are two articles I really liked that talk about Struts and JSF. One is from the creator of Struts, Craig McClanahan, The Best of Both Worlds: Integrating JSF with Struts in Your J2EE Applications. The second one is probably the best intro to JSF you’ll find, JSF for nonbelievers: Clearing the FUD about JSF by Rick Hightower.