Struts Training

Advantages of Struts

• Since Struts follow MVC framework, Java, JSP and Action classes are highly maintained and easy to understand for developers.
• The development time is less and this creates an advantage for the application developers.
• It is easy to maintain the applications due to the MVC framework.
• The representation is in xml or property files and hence all the information about the application can be collected from the xml.config files. All information including Action class, Form Bean and JSP page information is in the config file which is very helpful for the developers.
• getParameter () information is stored in Form Bean. All the input data is processed here. The time to process the data is very less due to Form Bean.
• JSP tags are provided that easily provide the properties of JavaBeans components. The tags are customized, concise and powerful when compared to other tags.
• HTML tags are also created from JSP tags to set the page for the user interface. The form field objects are from Java files. The forms can be redisplayed with all the values remaining the same or a few changes made.
• In order to check whether the form values are in the required format, Struts has built-in capabilities. This helps to get the values sooner for developers.
• The configuration is centralized and it proves as an advantage for forms and Action classes.
• Due to xml and property files, any changes can be made to these files without changing the original Java code. Hence the developers need not know the entire layout. They have to edit only the single file. This helps to save the time of editing the file.
• The validator in Struts is really good to validate the forms or fields whatever the developer entered in the network. This validation is either performed in the server or in both server and client.
• The infrastructure is taken care of well in Struts. HTTP requests are mapped into the process and developers need not worry the same. They can focus on the code and developing the domain.
• Documentation is well maintained and is of very useful to anyone who develops the framework.

Struts are a large framework and hence used to create enterprise-wide applications. The design, action form, and annotations are simple and easy to understand. Struts are mainly considered as a legacy and if it is needed very much by the client, we should follow the same. This framework is popular due to ease of use and knowledge of Java by developers.

• Centralized File-Based Configuration.Rather than hard-coding information into Java programs, many Struts values are represented in XML or property files. This loose coupling means that many changes can be made without modifying or recompiling Java code, and that wholesale changes can be made by editing a single file. This approach also lets Java and Web developers focus on their specific tasks (implementing business logic, presenting certain values to clients, etc.) without needing to know about the overall system layout.
• Form Beans.In JSP, you can use property="*" with jsp:setProperty to automatically populate a JavaBean component based on incoming request parameters. Unfortunately, however, in the standard API this capability is unavailable to servlets, even though with MVC it is really servlets, not JSP pages, that should usually be the target of form submissions. Apache Struts extends this capability to Java code and adds in several useful utilities, all of which serve to greatly simplify the processing of request parameters.
• Bean Tags.Apache Struts provides a set of custom JSP tags (bean:write, in particular) that let you easily output the properties of JavaBeans components. Basically, these are concise and powerful variations of the standard jsp:useBean and jsp:getProperty tags.
• HTML Tags.Apache Struts provides a set of custom JSP tags to create HTML forms that are associated with JavaBeans components. This bean/form association serves two useful purposes:
• It lets you get initial form-field values from Java objects.
• It lets you redisplay forms with some or all previously entered values intact.
• Form Field Validation.Apache Struts has builtin capabilities for checking that form values are in the required format. If values are missing or in an improper format, the form can be automatically redisplayed with error messages and with the previously entered values maintained.    This validation can be performed on the server (in Java), or bothConsistent Approach.Struts encourages consistent use of MVC throughout your application.