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Lukasz Lenart
99 lines
7.0 KiB
Markdown
99 lines
7.0 KiB
Markdown
<!---
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Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
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contributor license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
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this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
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The ASF licenses this file to You under the Apache License, Version 2.0
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(the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with
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the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
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http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
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Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
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distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
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WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
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See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
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limitations under the License.
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-->
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The Apache Struts web framework
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-------------------------------
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[](https://builds.apache.org/view/S-Z/view/Struts/job/Struts-master-JDK7/)
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[](https://travis-ci.org/apache/struts)
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[](https://maven-badges.herokuapp.com/maven-central/org.apache.struts/struts2-core/)
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[](https://coveralls.io/github/apache/struts)
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[](https://app.updateimpact.com/latest/713283867011846144/Struts%202)
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[](http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html)
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The Apache Struts web framework is a free open-source solution for creating Java web applications.
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## Documentation
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More information can be found on the [homepage](https://struts.apache.org/). Please read the [Security Guide](https://struts.apache.org/security/)
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and the [JavaDocs](https://struts.apache.org/maven/struts2-core/apidocs/index.html) can be browsed.
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Questions related to the usage of the Apache Struts should be posted to the [user mailing list](https://struts.apache.org/mail.html).
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## Description
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Web applications differ from conventional websites in that web applications can create a dynamic response. Many websites
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deliver only static pages. A web application can interact with databases and business logic engines to customize a response.
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Web applications based on JavaServer Pages sometimes commingle database code, page design code, and control flow code.
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In practice, we find that unless these concerns are separated, larger applications become difficult to maintain.
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One way to separate concerns in a software application is to use a Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture. The Model
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represents the business or database code, the View represents the page design code, and the Controller represents
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the navigational code. The Struts framework is designed to help developers create web applications that utilize
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a MVC architecture.
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The framework provides three key components:
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A “request” handler provided by the application developer that is mapped to a standard URI. A “response” handler that
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transfers control to another resource which completes the response. A tag library that helps developers create interactive
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form-based applications with server pages. The framework’s architecture and tags are buzzword compliant. Struts works well
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with conventional REST applications and with technologies like SOAP and AJAX.
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## The Apache Struts Project
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The Apache Struts Project is the open source community that creates and maintains the Apache Struts framework.
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The project consists of a diverse group of volunteers who share common values regarding collaborative, community-based
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open source development. The Apache Struts Project is proud to share these values with our parent organization:
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The Apache Software Foundation.
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The project is called “Struts” because the framework is meant to furnish the “invisible underpinnings” that support
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professional application development. Struts provides the glue that joins the various elements of the standard Java
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platform into a coherent whole. Our goal is to leverage existing standards by producing the missing pieces we need to create
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enterprise-grade applications that are easy to maintain over time.
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The Apache Struts Project offered two major versions of the Struts framework. Currently we are only maintaining the Struts 2
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version. It is recommended to upgrade all Struts 1.x application to Struts 2. Please do not start new application development
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using Struts 1.x, as we are no longer issuing security patches.
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Struts 2 was originally known as WebWork 2. After working independently for several years, the WebWork and Struts
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communities joined forces to create Struts 2. The 2.x framework is the best choice for teams who value elegant solutions
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to difficult problems.
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## Why should you use Apache Struts?
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Apache Struts is a modern, maintained and full-featured web framework. It has been there for years and give the huge user
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base it is unlikely it will go away anytime soon in the future. Not only that we have dedicated users and developers
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on the project. Apache Struts is licensed to the Apache License 2.0 and this will not change. We maintain a clean IP
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and you are “safe” to use the project. Sometimes you are not “safe” to use a project when a company controls the SCM.
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Access to Source Code doesn’t mean it is free. With Apache Struts, you are not only free to “do what you want with it”,
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you can even contribute (which is not always the case). And best of it: you can become a part of the core team too.
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It is usually very easy to integrate other technologies with Apache Struts. If you are using an ORM like Apache Cayenne,
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Hibernate or JDBC you will not have any restrictions. Apache Struts is not even tied too much to a frontend technology.
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In old days it was JSP, then came Velocity and Freemarker. Nowadays you might build your web application with just static
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HTML and AngularJS. Or you want to use Sitemesh or Tiles. This all is no problem due to Struts elegant and easy to use
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extension mechanisms.
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Unlike other, component oriented frameworks, we do not aim to hide the stateless nature of the web. We think it is
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perfectly acceptable to build upon a Request/Response cycle. We also think the MVC pattern is not so bad, just because
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it is old. In fact, we believe the Apache Struts architecture is clean and easy to understand.
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Of course, if you wish to build components on the server side which render on the front end side, you are most likely
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wrong with Struts. This is a different approach which promises to reduce the amount of HTML/JavaScript knowledge needed
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and to create reusable components for the view layer. Projects like Wicket and Tapestry serve this purpose very well.
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As with every framework you need to decide if it makes sense for you to build components or if you are better with
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the Struts-approach.
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