The play framework
http://www.playframework.org/ is similar in concept to develop in Django or Rails. That is, no compile-package-deploy. Change the code and refresh the browser, see source code for errors etc.
Go to the site to see the video.
from the site:
Fix the bug and hit reload! Edit your Java files, save, refresh your browser and see the results immediately! No need to compile, deploy or restart the server.
Stateless model Play is a real "Share nothing" system. Ready for REST, it is easily scaled by running multiple instances of the same application on several servers.
Efficient template system A clean template system based on Groovy as an expression language. It provides template inheritence, includes and tags.
Resolve errors quickly When an error occurs, play shows you the source code and the exact line containing the problem. Even in templates.
All you need to create a cool web application Provides integration with Hibernate, OpenID, Memcached... And a plugin system.
Pure Java Code with Java, use any Java library and develop with your preferred IDE. Integrates nicely with eclipse or netbeans.
Really fast Starts fast and runs fast!
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P.s. version 1.1 will have support for Scala
Comments
Actually, it's not just similar in concept to Django or Rails, but an impressive effort to clone them... I also liked the use of Groovy, which is an acknowledgment of the power of dynamic languages for both rapid development & less verbosity.
However, to be useful in a real project, the framework needs to be flexible & powerful enough to meet any type of requirements, which requires more than just copying a few features. So, although the framework is obviously a big step in the right direction, I doubt that it's good enough for more than playing.
If you're bound to use Java, go ahead & try it, but if you want the benefits of frameworks such as Django & Rails, this is far from being any substitute, if only because these frameworks exist since 2003 & gained maturity, features & very large eco-system.
Note: Groovy is used for the templating engine only. This is an implementation fact and does not affect the development itself which is all in Java.
Python is also used for the various administration scripts.
Gave it a try... Very Nice(!)
wow
On with experimentation -
1. If you have rails experience - entering play is too easy (concepts, approaches, even folders structure).
2. Almost finished rewriting the demo app in Scala. Again - to damn easy.
Except for model classes refactoring that sometimes need more than a simple refresh (which a. is perfectly understandable and b. takes no-time comparing to a standard Java development cycle) everything is smooth and swift.
From what I've experienced, for me, this framework is pure joy!
Guest what I found?!
The demo app already has a Scala version inside samples-and-test folder that comes with Play.
What an idiot...
We would like to present it on the next Java group meeting. Anyone wants to take it ?
What do you want to show besides the video? Internal workings? Integration with other tiers?
I think that grails should come before play...
I think the presentation should give a coherent view of the framework including architecture and constructs, and present integration to other tiers and languages (Scala).