In this post, we will list the 10 most popular Java Frameworks that a developer should know. Through this framework comparison, you will understand which is for faster Java program development, decoupling business logic from the database queries, and automation of the manual procedures.
Frameworks help in defining an application by specifying the layer metadata.
Table Of Contents
1. Overview
Java Frameworks are used by developers for microservices, Object relationship mapping, UI interfaces, Big Data Framework, app development, and data processing. They can be used for different use cases in different domains. Java frameworks have advantages related to productivity, automation, and reusability.
2. Most popular Java Frameworks
The most popular Java Frameworks used by the developers are Spring, Hibernate, JSF, GWT, Play, Vaadin, Grails, Dropwizard, Hadoop, and Spark.
Java Frameworks can be based on opensource and commercial libraries. They help in minimizing the amount of code needed for web, mobile, and desktop applications.
2.1 Spring
Spring framework is popular and has features related to security and configuration. The framework is based on the Inversion of control principles. The application flow is based on the events and the sequence of the flow is controlled by the external application controller through events. Inversion of control happens through the injection of setters, methods, and constructors. Beans are the objects in the spring framework. The factory pattern is used for the creation and configuration of beans. The bean configuration is performed in the spring framework through beans.xml. The application context handles event propagation, declarations, and integration. Check out the latest articles on Spring from Java Code Geeks:
2.2 Hibernate
Hibernate framework is used by the developers for object-relational mapping. This framework handles queries through Hibernate Query Language. Hibernate has features to map Java POJOs to relational database tables and vice versa. The configuration file in the framework is hibernate.cfg.xml which has the database configuration and mapping information. Hibernate framework helps in decoupling the code from the relational database queries. This framework manages the database connections and CRUD operations. Check out the latest articles on Hibernate from Java Code Geeks:
2.3 JSF
Java Server Faces is the Model view controller framework used for developing server-based UI pages. The web pages have CSS, Javascript, and HTML elements for the creation of the user interface. IDEs provide drag and drop capabilities for the creation of UI components. Facelets is the templating system in Java Server Faces. AJAX events can be used in JSF framework for better user experience. Check out the latest articles on JSF from Java Code Geeks:
2.4 GWT
Google Web Toolkit is used by the developers for developing Rich Web applications. It is compatible with the browsers and Google APIs can be used in the web application very easily. It has features for integrating with Maven and Junit. GWT is based on javascript code and widgets library. Custom widgets can be developed using the GWT framework. Check out the latest articles on GWT from Java Code Geeks:
2.5 Play
Play framework is used for developing java applications which are web and mobile-based applications. The framework has features for NoSQL database queries. Play is based on Restful web services. This framework is lightweight, stateless, and based on Akka Streams. Play is based on the model view controller architectural pattern. It has support for relational databases and ORM using JPA, Slick, and Anorm. Check out the latest articles on Play from JavaCodeGeeks:
2.6 Vaadin
Vaadin is a Java framework used for building applications which are native mobile apps, desktop or web applications. The framework has functions that can be invoked for assembling UI components. It has responsive CSS templates for web and mobile applications. Java beans validation is another feature supported by annotations. Vaadin is supported by popular IDEs for development of applications. Check out the latest articles on Vaadin from JavaCodeGeeks:
2.7 Grails
Grails framework is a java framework built on Spring Boot and uses dependency injection. It has support for HTML, JSON, and XML. The framework has support for data access using GORM. Grails can be used for building rest web services which can be consumed by the front end javascript frameworks such as React and Angular. Grails is supported by popular IDEs such as Eclipse and Intelli J. Check out the latest articles on Grails from JavaCodeGeeks:
2.8 DropWizard
Dropwizard is used by the developers for developing REST web services. It has features for configuration, application metrics, logging, and operational tools. This framework is based on Jersey, Jackson, Guava, Freemarker, and Jetty container components. Dropwizard uses the Maven build tool. Check out the latest articles on DropWizard from Java Code Geeks:
2.9 Hadoop
Hadoop is a java framework based on the Map-Reduce framework. It has features related to data processing and analysis. This framework is based on the Master-Slave Design pattern. Hadoop has capabilities such as distributed data storage and data processing. It has a File System (HDFS) which has the master node layer. Map Reduce framework has components like Job Tracker and Task Tracker. The slave nodes in the Hadoop framework are DataNodes. Check out the latest articles on Hadoop from Java Code Geeks:
2.10 Spark
Apache Spark is a java framework used for big data processing and analytics. This framework has features related to SQL queries, algorithms, and machine learning. Spark Framework has the support for Java, Scala, and R. The framework performs 10 times better than Hadoop. It has support for microframework and DSL based on Java. Check out the latest articles on Spark from Java Code Geeks:
3. Summary
In this article, we have seen the most popular Java frameworks related to web services, micro containers, user interfaces, big data processing, application development, and object-relational mapping. There are some more popular Java frameworks listed below which are new and catching up:
I see lot of obsolete frameworks here such as JSF, MyBatis etc..
Also consider to include cuba-platform