The Spring framework is the most complete J2EE open source framework to date. It makes the Business Tier implementation less hassle and eliminates the need to use EJBs for your business objects. It comes with a built in MVC web framework and allows you to integrate with your choice of ORM solution. You can also use the Spring framework only in the middle tier with your choice of web MVC framework like Struts or WebWork. I recommend using built in Spring MVC web tier components because, it is easy to use and very flexible in terms of configuration. For the ORM; I recommend Hibernate because Spring addresses many Hibernate integrating issues.
I started using Spring in February 2005. Since then Spring has moved from 1.1.4 to 2.5 version. Before Spring I used a similar home made framework based on the Front Controller and the Application Service patterns in couple of my big projects. But Spring gave me a complete framework and helped me to concentrate more on the business aspects of the applications I have to develop.
I have used Spring in three major applications we did for a “Big Three’ Auto company. We integrated Acegi, CAS (Single Sign On), Apache Lucene and EhCache frameworks seamlessly with the Spring framework.
To find out more about the Spring framework check out this article by the founder of Spring, Rod Johnson.
More Information:
Spring – http://www.springframework.org/
Hibernate – http://www.hibernate.org/
Lucene – http://lucene.apache.org/java/docs/index.html
EhCache – http://ehcache.sourceforge.net/
CAS – http://www.ja-sig.org/products/cas/
Acegi – http://www.acegisecurity.org/
