Most popular Java frameworks used by Polish software houses in 2020
It has been 24 years since Java was released and demand for it is still strong, topping the charts for most popular programming languages. No wonder the collection of Java frameworks for application development – which make life easier by shortening lines of code to write – is extensive. To help you decide which one is best, we prepared a list of the four most popular tools in Poland today.
What are frameworks?
Frameworks are programming platforms used for building applications. They are useful because they contain a lot of libraries and tools necessary to create a professional application or website, allowing programmers to achieve considerable time savings on writing basic code.
The 4 most popular Java frameworks in Poland
1. Spring
Spring is a multi-project platform, open-source framework dedicated to developing Java applications. Over the years, it has gained support for multiple technologies, becoming a central element of the entire Java ecosystem.
Initially, Spring consisted of a dependency injection container, a module that simplified the use of JDBC, elements of aspect programming and validation. Over time, new projects began to appear, which significantly simplified repetitive tasks and enabled integration with many external systems. Spring consists of many separate modules such as Spring Data, Spring MVC or Spring Security.
Main advantages:
- Provides the ability to perform unit tests.
- Provides a variety of ready-made modules for many integrations, e.g. work in the architecture of microservices, with data, and cloud platforms.
- Easy to implement – deployment does not require a large application server, but a lightweight web application container.
2. PrimeFaces
PrimeFaces is an open-source component library for JavaServer. Faces 2.0 was developed by the Turkish company Prime Teknoloji, which specializes in JSF and Java EE technologies. The tool allows developers to create a website containing dynamic elements of the graphic interface. The tool is based on the JavaScript jQuery library.
Most of its components use AJAX and, in newer versions, Comet, which enables more dynamic interaction between the user and the webserver. Apart from the JSF, there are versions such as PrimeUI, PrimeFaces Mobile and PrimeFaces.NET. Prime Teknoloji offers this library under the Apache 2.0 license, so use is free, even for commercial purposes.
Main advantages:
- Rich in various components.
- Light.
- Easy to use.
- Easy to style.
- Independent of other libraries.
- Free.
3. Google Web Toolkit (GWT)
Google Web Toolkit (GWT) is a framework provided by Google for building Java-based applications with a rich AJAX front end. GWT allows users to write Java applications by providing a set of libraries for creating dialogues, buttons, forms, etc. Then it compiles and optimizes them, creating JavaScript, which should work properly in all popular browsers. Furthermore, compilation includes static type checking, throwing unnecessary parameters from methods, fields from classes, and linking methods.
GWT ensures correct display of components in Firefox, Opera, IE / Edge, Safari and Google Chrome browsers. It also provides support for history management in the browser and JUnit unit testing. What is more, the framework is used, among others via services like AdWords, AdSense, Google Wallet, Orkut and Google Wave. GWC popularity has declined in recent years as programmers have switched to other frameworks because of problems keeping up with the competition – GWT was last updated on October 19, 2017, and further development of the framework has been stopped.
Main advantages:
- Provides easy integration with Junit and Maven.
- Includes a variety of pre-built components.
- Easy integrations with other technologies: JSP and native JavaScript.
- Handles most JavaScript cross-browser issues.
4. Vaadin
Vaadin is a framework that allows developers to create web applications in Java. Unlike Javascript libraries and browser plug-in solutions, it has a robust server-side architecture, meaning that most of the application logic runs securely on the server. Its main advantage is that it does not require extensive know-how of frontend technologies. However, if a programmer works on the application written in a non-standard way, Vaadin also allows the use of CSS, JavaScript, HTML5 styles, etc.
Creating a user interface in the Vaadin framework is similar to creating a desktop application in Swing. The programmer creates a UI from components provided by Vaadin (eg. TextField, ComboBox) and then manage their arrangement using various layouts.
Main advantages:
- Server-side programming.
- Offers multiple options.
- Object-oriented.
Preparing for 2021
These frameworks are popular with Polish software houses because they allow developers to build robust, effective Java applications quickly and effectively. Proven and trusted they will continue to deliver value into 2021 and beyond.
For more information about how Eversoft can help your business accelerate Java development using these frameworks and more, please get in touch.
