1. Hibernate is great (the only exception being applications that rely on *insanely* complex stored prcedures).
2. Business logic layer:
i'd consider Spring. It intorduces great design ideas, simple declarative security, and more. Even when I don't use it, I find myself following its cool design principals.
(For complex, replicated applications you might consider
EJB, which can also replace Hibernaete. Unfortunately EJB is on a cross roads right now: the old EJB 2 is strongly criticized for bad cumbersome design. The new EJB 3 is cleaner and more modern, but it has much less literature and less production experience).
3. Controller - one of the 3: JSF , or Struts, or the newer 'Struts Action 2'.
The choice is a matter of personal taste... I'd consider 3 factors:
a) Design & complexity:
JSF is 'Component Based' - enhances component reusability, at the cost of being more complex to learn & trace (I've also heard some complaints about JSF performance, but I havent' checked them closely).
Struts (and Struts Action 2) is 'Action Based'. Meaning a simpler flow, more straight-forward to lean and trace. You can still have good design and reusability, but not a fancy as those of JSF.
b)
IDE support & Wizards:
All 3 frameworks require you to implement some interfaces, *and* create some XML files.
Now, JSF and the *old* Struts both have a fair share of IDE support, especially wizards to generate code skeletons, XML files, and graphical viewers to show application flow.
The new Struts Action 2 doesn't have that much IDE support, you'd probably need to manually type the code + xml files ( It's quite simple, personally I don't mind it, but if you like wizards and graphical views, it's a problem).
c) Job interviews: I've seem demand for both JSF and *old* struts.
You might try to follow the addes in your country, see which is more in demand, or is one quickly gaining on the other (even if you're not looking for a job, it's good to know your market value).
The new Struts Action 2 is less likely to come up in interviews, interviewer isn't always guaranteed to have heard of it...
Good luck
[ March 13, 2007: Message edited by: Sol Mam-Orn ]