What are the different flavors of JSF?

[Kumara Swamy]

Hi,

Can any one provide me information like what is JSF and what are the different types it has(like Myfaces, RichFaces, etc...).

Please provide some useful info on where to get jars and source code to start an application with JSF.

Thanks and Regards,
Kumara Swamy.

[Bauke Scholtz]

There are two main implementations of the JSF specification: Sun Mojarra and Apache MyFaces. You need at least a JSF implementation to be able to develop/run JSF.

The JSF implementations provides you the basic components. There are also JSF component libraries out which adds extra components on top of the JSF implementation, such as Apache Tomahawk (more enhanced), JBoss RichFaces (Ajaxical), IceFaces (Ajaxical), Oracle ADF (more enhanced), etcetera.

[Kumara Swamy]

Hi Bauke Scholtz,

Thank you very much for providing the information.
so you mean to say we have to build the JSF apps by using Mojarra or MyFaces
after that we can add extra components like Richfaces, Icefaces etc... to our application.

Can you provide some useful samples on JSF?

Thanks and Regards,
Kumara Swamy.

[Bauke Scholtz]

No, not necessarily that. You just need at least a JSF implementation to be able to use the component libraries.

You should start reading the JSF specification. It explains in detail why JSF is there and what it all can. Sun Java EE tutorial part II chapter 10 contains a basic JSF tutorial. Besides that, there are a lot of JSF sources available on the net. A good starting point is Google. Noteable sources are jsftutorials.net and coreservlets.com.

You should certainly not look around at roseindia.net. They have only clutter.
[ December 27, 2008: Message edited by: Bauke Scholtz ]

[Tim Holloway]

There aren't actually "flavors" of JSF. Not in the sense that you should notice the difference if you swapped out MyFaces for the Sun RI or the other way around. JSF consists of a core and a framework. The core JSF is defined by the spec, and no "flavors" are permitted. There are some issues in the framework set-up. Mostly in the J2EE versus JEE area, since apparently the core JSF libs must be added to J2EE servers like Tomcat versions 5 and 6, but there's a copy of the Sun RI built into the latest JBoss. However, that doesn't count as a "flavor" at the application source code level.

There are lots of add-ons that use the JSF framework, such as RichFaces, IceFaces and Tomahawk. These are extensions above and beyond the core, and each has its virtues and drawbacks.

[Kumara Swamy]

Hi,

Thank you very much for your information.

Regards,
Kumara Swamy.