Frameworks act as building blocks for any programmer. It is a platform for developing software applications. It works like a strong base from which programmers are able to build their desired applications by customizing the codes.
What Are Java Frameworks?
To make any java based software we would be needing java frameworks. Java is one of the powerful programming languages that help in making great software.
Java Developers can add their own codes to the pre-written codes according to the specific requirements of the framework. It reduces the overhead of using manuals and writing the codes from scratch. The frameworks in java may include predefined classes, functions, and methods that would be useful for giving inputs, performing functions, and interacting with different software. It allows us to give priority to the main logic of the software instead of writing basic functionality like making database connections or handling exceptions. There are many Java frameworks in the market, each having its own pros and cons.
Benefits of using Java Frameworks:
With the ease of programming, java frameworks also take care of other aspects that could benefit programmers. Below listed are some of the advantages of using java frameworks:
1) Efficiency: Imagine the two scenarios, given the basic structure of the java codes, you just have to focus on the specific part that is responsible for the core functioning of the software, on the other hand, you have to write the whole program from the scratch. Which way would you prefer? It’s obvious that programmers will go with the first option as every time they don't need to deal with the basic errors. This is how java frameworks prove to be efficient.
2) Support communities: As Java is the most widely used framework, it has certain support groups. These groups are small clusters that contain programmers using the same framework. They interact with each other and help in resolving the issues that may arise.
3) Expense: Since java frameworks provide the basic code structure due to which programmers have to write less code. If the coding is done faster the expense will become lesser in every way whether it is time or effort.
4) Optimization: Java frameworks provide us with the already written base code which is optimized and developers have not to worry about it. They just have to focus mainly on the core part of the application which is written to fulfill the business requirement. This helps them save time.
Learn More About the Top 10 Java Frameworks:
1. Spring:
This open-source framework is used for making Enterprise Java-based applications and is one of the most powerful frameworks in Java. It is a lightweight and adaptable framework which is widely used in developing software. With the development of a particular layer in a real-time application, the Spring framework also allows to development of all the layers of the real-time application, this is one of the unique features of this framework. Spring supports JDBC that helps improve productivity, it also supports XML and annotation-based configurations. Some of the companies that use the Spring framework are: Netflix (Spring boot), Yatra (Spring MVC), and Amazon.
2. Apache Struts:
This is another framework for Enterprise Java maintained by Apache Software Foundation. It is used to develop MVC based web applications. It has two versions: Struts 1 and Struts 2. Struts 2 version is the combination of the webwork framework of OpenSymphony and Struts 1. It performs better and is more preferred than Struts 1. Struts contain a wide range of advanced features that can be applied in web applications.
3. Java Server Faces:
This framework developed by Oracle is a component-based UI framework. It provides excellent tools and libraries for building user interfaces and dashboards for web applications. It is one of the most structured java frameworks. The key feature of Java servers faces is that it provides seamless integrations among back-end code and user interfaces. It is an essential part of Java EE.
4. Grails:
It is a dynamic framework written in Groovy programming language and runs in a java platform. This framework is suitable for beginners as it provides easy documentations and is developer-friendly. It is used by most e-commerce websites. One of the advantages of using this framework is that you can integrate your java code with grails and it does not affect its working.
5. Vaadin:
This framework allows the programmers to build impressive web applications by providing them with an easy to use platform for web development. DOM is directly accessible to JVM in this java framework. After the new release, Vaadin got split into two parts, a lightweight java framework known as Vaadin Flow for routing and client-server communication. It automated the communication between the server and the browser.
6. Dropwizard:
With the wide range of libraries, this lightweight framework allows the developer to complete their application very fast. One can create stable, reliable RESTful APIs using the framework. It helps in creating Java microservices. It is an open-sourced framework that easily gets set up and provides increased productivity.
7. GWT:
It is an open-source framework that allows you to create remarkable applications. One does not need to be an expert in frontend technologies because it converts the java code to javascript code. It is a developer-friendly framework that uses Google APIs and helps in creating complex web applications. The three major components of GWT are the Java to JS compiler, the JRE emulation library, and the GWT UI building library.
8. Play:
This framework allows developers to develop lightweight Java and Scala web applications for mobile as well as desktop interfaces. It does not follow J2EE web standards. Due to its asynchronous processing, it provides high performance. Since it uses a statistically typed language, most of the errors get caught during compilation which leads to the smooth development process. Other features of this framework are hot load reloading and convention over configuration.
9. Apache Wicket:
This is a simple java web framework with a component-oriented structure. It has a POJO model where the components are simple Plain Old Java Objects having OOP features. The components include images, buttons, forms, pages, links, containers, and much more. They are customizable and combined together as reusable packages. It helps to build applications faster. It is easy to learn wicket if one is familiar with JSP.
10. Blade:
This lightweight framework allows the developers to build high-performance applications. It's an MVC framework serving as a routing interface for RESTful. It also helps in data synchronization with the website. It supports web jar resources, plug-in extensions and allows to configure multiple files. It also owns XSS (Cross-site scripting) and CSRF (Cross-site Request Forgery).
Conclusion
There are many java frameworks in the market other than these 10 frameworks all having their own pros and cons. The selection of the framework depends on the requirements of the application that needs to be built. The main aim of Java frameworks is that it reduces programming and additionally provides security and productivity. If a developer has knowledge about these frameworks, they can have a better programming experience. It's just a matter of time and interest.
If you're in the process of learning Java, then the following references could help boost your learning curve,
Java Basics: Link
Java Interview Questions: Link
FREE Masterclass: Link
Official Site: Link
All You Need to know about Java: Link
