Stripes Framework

I work in Java Web development for near to 3 years.

Of course I start with plains HttpServlets, (a little scary but powerful), the next thing that I learn was JSP (less scary and I have prior experience with ASP 3.0 So I feel in home), the next, JSP with custom tags (Too powerful but I little long to create)... and of course I finish with Struts...

Oh Struts, the old and reliable Struts, How many joys and frustrations you gave me, How many bills I pay with your help, How many tears I cry for your lack of design and excess of XML configuration and your poor validation, and your Tiles... Oh the Tiles, I don't to talk about you Tiles, so many pain in my heart only for thinking in you.

Struts teach us I few things: There are ways to make things a little easier, the must widespread solution isn't always the best solution and as said King Solomon:

"The race is not to the swift,
Nor the battle to the strong,
Nor bread to the wise,
Nor riches to men of understanding,
Nor favor to men of skill;
But time and chance happen to them all."

Time and Chance, thats the essence of Struts success, Struts appear when no one think that the HttpSerlvet and JSP are too complicated(or maybe a lot of people think but anyone expect Craig McClanahan make something).

And Suddenly 2 or 3 years ago, Java Web Frameworks grows everywhere(once I found one in my Cereal Box, thats was disgusting), you can't read theserverside.com (another pioneer) without read 5 or 4 post about the next Java Web Frameworks everyone claiming to be the "Struts killer" or the "One Framework to rule them all". And of course the IT Books publishers was very happy, selling books about this frameworks

JSF(I know, JSF isn't a Framework is a Specification), Tapestry, Wicket, WebWork and Zillions of Zillions of Java Web Frameworks, jumping, crying, playing, breaking all, fighting with the others, and dying everywhere but one framework caught my attention.

Stripes, the humble Stripes, with one single premise: "Java Web Development should be easy", thats all, nothing more, nothing less.

And Stripes fulfilled his promise:

- Near to Zero configuration
- A New developer must be learn Stripes in less than 30 minutes
- Not Feature bloated
- A very powerful, but efficient and easy way to extend the basic features
- And the most important to me a Framework thats is FUN to use.

Many developers don't believe that Java Web Development will be fun, for that many of them run to the RoR arms, but Stripes makes this possible, Stripes == FUN; you understand? FUN, joy, alegria.

I see how Great Web applications flow from my fingers only in days thanks to Stripes, and always I think (whit a smile in my face) "WOW, thats was amazing" and the next thing that I think is "Oh, how many time I'll expend making this application with Struts??" (and the smile disappear from my face).

Stripes work and works VERY well, and is FUN, I don't have to worry about the presentation layer Stripes is ready to help me, and I never lost the "flow", thats is FUN, is the same thing that I love from IntelliJ (Stripes was developing on IntelliJ, and many in Stripes community are IntelliJ fans too).

For this reason I make IntelliStripes, to make the Stripes development more pleasant in IntelliJ, and of course more productive.

Stripes is by a far distance The BEST Java MVC Action based Framework