Java Web Tier Framework Comparison

I found this old reference in my collection, not sure how much of this is still valid but thought of posting it here so it will not get loss.

Framework	Description	Pros	Cons	Reference Info	Licensing
GWT	Google Web Toolkit (GWT) is an open source Java software development framework that makes writing AJAX applications easy for developers who don't speak browser quirks as a second language. You write your front end in the Java programming language, and the GWT compiler converts your Java classes to browser-compliant JavaScript and HTML	No JavaScript syntax errors - Use a reliable, strongly-typed language (Java) for development and debugging - No JavaScript programming at all! Can use complex Java on the client - Turned into JavaScript, but you still use String, array, Math class, ArrayList, HashMap, custom classes, etc. - Full IDE-based Java support for development/debugging (GWT builds Eclipse or MyEclipse projects automatically) Can send complex Java types to and from the server - Data gets serialized across network Standalone test environment - Can test within MyEclipse without installing a server Support by major company - From the company that helped to popularize Ajax in the first place. But project is free, open-source, and in no way tied to Google products or services. - Company won't go away like perhaps with AjaxTags	Big learning curve - Java developers can deploy with AjaxTags (or other JSP tag libraries that wrap Ajax functionality) in just a few minutes, whereas it takes much longer to get anything running with GWT. Cumbersome deployment - Clumsy and poorly documented process to deploy on a regular Java-based Web server. Nonstandard approach to integrate JavaScript - You never put direct JavaScript in your HTML. Instead, you use JSNI to wrap JavaScript in Java. Very powerful in the long run, but hard to get used to at first. Only for Java developers - Most Ajax environments do JavaScript on the client and have a choice for the server. GWT is based entirely around Java. Unusual approach - Fundamentally different strategy than all other Ajax environments makes evaluation and management buyoff harder Lack of Java 5 Support in current version GWT 1.4 It’s hard to attach GWT on top of existing code	http://code.google.com/webtoolkit/	Freeware
Struts 2	Apache Struts 2 is an elegant, extensible framework for creating enterprise-ready Java web applications. The framework is designed to streamline the full development cycle, from building, to deploying, to maintaining applications over time.	Simple architecture - easy to extend Tag Library is easy to customize with FreeMarker or Velocity Controller-based or page-based navigation	Documentation is poorly organized No feedback for missing properties or invalid OGNL expressions Googling results in Struts 1.x documentation	http://struts.apache.org/2.x/	Freeware
JSF	JavaServer Faces technology simplifies building user interfaces for JavaServer applications. Developers of various skill levels can quickly build web applications by: assembling reusable UI components in a page; connecting these components to an application data source; and wiring client-generated events to server-side event handlers.	Java EE Standard - lots of demand and jobs Fast and easy to develop with initially Lots of component libraries	Tag soup for JSPs Doesn't play well with REST or Security No single source for implementation	http://java.sun.com/javaee/javaserverfaces/	Freeware
Spring MVC	This framework is highly configurable via strategy interfaces, and accommodates multiple view technologies like JSP, Velocity, Tiles, iText, and POI. Note that a Spring middle tier can easily be combined with a web tier based on any other web MVC framework, like Struts, WebWork, or Tapestry.	Lifecyle for overriding binding, validation, etc. Integrates with many view options seamlessly: JSP/JSTL, Tiles, Velocity, FreeMarker, Excel, PDF Inversion of Control makes it easy to test	Configuration intensive - lots of XML Almost too flexible - no common parent Controller No built-in Ajax support	http://www.springframework.org/	Freeware
Stripes	Stripes is a presentation framework for building web applications using the latest Java technologies. The main driver behind Stripes is that web application development in Java is just too much work!	No XML - Convention over Configuration Good documentation (easy to learn) Enthusiastic community	Small Community Not as actively developed as other projects Hard-coded URLs in ActionBeans	http://www.stripesframework.org/display/stripes/Home	Freeware
Tapestry	Tapestry is an open-source framework for creating dynamic, robust, highly scalable web applications in Java. Tapestry complements and builds upon the standard Java Servlet API, and so it works in any servlet container or application server.	Very productive once you learn it Templates are HTML - great for designers Lots of innovation between releases	Documentation very conceptual, rather than pragmatic Steep learning curve Long release cycles - major upgrades every year	http://tapestry.apache.org/	Freeware
Flex	Flex is a highly productive, free open source framework for building and maintaining expressive web applications that deploy consistently on all major browsers, desktops, and operating systems.	Produces Flash UI Funded by Adobe Has a “poster child” in Picnik	Not Search Engine Friendly Doesn’t render HTML content well Doesn’t print well by default	http://flex.org/java/	Freeware
Grails	It's an open-source web application framework that leverages the Groovy language and complements Java Web development. You can use Grails as a standalone development environment that hides all configuration details or integrate your Java business logic. Grails aims to make development as simple as possible and hence should appeal to a wide range of developers not just those from the Java community.	Less LOC => awesome productivity Groovy is easy to learn for Java Developers Using Spring and Hibernate at its foundation	Not as performant as using the raw frameworks Can be hard to sell to stakeholders who like Java Virtually unknown outside of blogs	http://grails.org/	Freeware
Seam	JBoss Seam is a powerful new application framework for building next generation Web 2.0 applications by unifying and integrating technologies such as Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX), Java Server Faces (JSF), Enterprise Java Beans (EJB3), Java Portlets and Business Process Management (BPM).	Full-Stack framework with CRUD Generation Conversations with jBPM Heavily Funded by JBoss/Red Hat	Works best on JBoss Application Server Designed for EJB 3	http://www.jboss.com/products/seam	Freeware
Wicket	With proper mark-up/logic separation, a POJO data model, and a refreshing lack of XML, Apache Wicket makes developing web-apps simple and enjoyable again. Swap the boilerplate, complex debugging and brittle code for powerful, reusable components written with plain Java and HTML.	Great for Java developers, not web developers Tight binding between pages and views Active community - support from the creators	HTML templates live next to Java code Need to have a good grasp of OO The Wicket Way - everything done in Java	http://wicket.apache.org/	Freeware
IT Mill Toolkit	IT Mill Toolkit enables developers to build high quality browser user interfaces with Java on server. It provides a library of ready to use high-quality user interface components and defines clean framework for creating your own components.The toolkit has been used in production since year 2001 and it is shown to be suitable for building demanding business applications.	Ease of use, re-usability, extensibility and meeting requirements of large enterprise application.		http://www.itmill.com/developers/	Community Edition available for free download and other featured versions include pricing. Refer : http://www.itmill.com/itmill-toolkit/licensing-and-pricing.htm