Mr. Ford: Velocity Templates

[Dennis John]

Do you feel Velocity Templates still has a place as the View Component in a framework, or does JSTL provide the same benefits as Velocity while being a standard?
I hear a lot about Velocity Templates but I do not see a reason to use them over JSTL.

[Neal Ford]

Do you feel Velocity Templates still has a place as the View Component in a framework, or does JSTL provide the same benefits as Velocity while being a standard?

I don't think that JSTL offers nearly as much functionality (or readability) as Velocity. Really, they address different areas. JSTL handles basic behaviors like iteration and decisions. Velocity is more expressive, with variables, expressions, and more power. Plus, JSTL (because it must adhere to XHTML restrictions) is a tad cryptic.
Velocity is very popular, and has virtually a cult following. In my chapter on Velocity, I use it as the view component in a Model 2 application.

[Josh Rehman]

Originally posted by Neal Ford:

Velocity is very popular, and has virtually a cult following. In my chapter on Velocity, I use it as the view component in a Model 2 application.

I might also add that it's really easy to use for things like code generation, too. I've not tried it, but I imagine that using JSP for code generation would be rather cumbersome.

[Ko Ko Naing]

Originally posted by Josh Rehman:

I might also add that it's really easy to use for things like code generation, too. I've not tried it, but I imagine that using JSP for code generation would be rather cumbersome.

I do want to add here that as far as I use Velocity in the past, it does really incredible job in separation of the codes from the page design... I used it since it's in version 1.2... I'm not sure what the latest version of Velocity is? But I haven't used that latest version yet...
But I do like it personally...