Kito Mann Interview about JSF

TheServerSide has just published an interview with Kito Mann, author of JavaServer Faces in Action. Of course, I'm not a fan of JSF -- my limited research shows that it does too little and requires too much code, but I suggest you read the article yourself. It's gratifying to me to see how, over the last two years, Tapestry has migrated to the front of any discussion concerning web application development.

I think one of the key words that comes up in the interview with respect to Tapestry is mature (and stable). Tapestry has grown into its current state in fits and starts ... a significant core has not changed radically in the last four years (Tapestry started in January 2000), but quite a bit of Tapestry today has come about in response to actual user's needs and requests. In fact, starting with a small, smart, involved user base meant that Tapestry could make some significant (and non-backward's compatible) changes early in its life.

I think some of the JSF challenges Mr. Mann mentions, particularily proper JavaScript support, are more complicated than he realizes. Lack of compatibility with JSPs, not to mention occasional non-backwards compatibility, has given Tapestry the freedom to find the right solution to a number of problems. Nowadays, backwards compatibility is much more important than it was three years ago, but the process of seeking out better and better solutions should continue indefinately.