Web Application Development with Spring Framework

The thesis is concerned with a comparison between a Java framework called Spring and Grails, Zend, Nette, NodeJS, Play, Symfony, OpenXava frameworks described in the theses of Odehnal [1], Kočárek [2], Kadlec [3], Dočkal [4], Šimon [5]. The thesis consists of two parts. The theoretical part introduces the Spring ecosystem and its individual modules to the reader. This part also outlines trends and estimates Spring position and popularity among other Java frameworks. The practical part focuses on web application development based on the criteria defined in the Odehnal's thesis [1]. The sample application shows the style of development in the Spring framework and its functionality and capabilities. Based on the gained experience during the sample application development, Spring is next compared to the other frameworks mentioned earlier and included into the previous comparison. The comparison criteria are specified in the Odehnal's thesis [1] and consist of 4 areas. First of all, there is a basic framework differences comparison. Next, there is an architecture comparison. The third area involves a comparison of work with the framework which also contains both objective criteria and personal estimation. The last part is dedicated to a comparison related to framework support, available literature and overall popularity. The result of this thesis is a comparison of 8 frameworks including the created sample application, which should help the readers when selecting one of the them and should make it easier to orientate in the world of web frameworks.