Struts 1.x vs Struts 2.x

Question

I have reviewed a few Struts 1 vs 2 questions on SO but none seem to answer the question in the perspective that I am looking at it with.

I am about to start work architecting a new system, a complete re-engineering of a very old desktop application. The goal is to make it web based, add more functionality, make it more usable etc (the usual reengineering reasons).

The team who will be developing the system are mainly Java developers and have worked on Struts 1.x extensively over the past 5 years.

The system is intended to live for many years to come, so the idea of re-engineering again in 3-5 years time when a better framework comes out is not an option. It is not intended to heavily use AJAX.

My question, is why would I bother moving to Struts 2 when my team are so experienced with Struts 1.x. I understand that there are some improvements, but I worry that the time lost in getting the team up to speed, rework due to incorrect usage etc will far outweigh any benefit we would get from Struts 2. We like Struts 1, it does what we need to it do, and all the design patterns, standards, best practices etc are in place.

Are there any killer features with Struts 2 or serious problems I don't know about in Struts 1 that would sway the decision to stay with Struts 1.

Answer 1

If you are building a system from scratch I would definitely move onto version 2.x of Struts. The learning curve will not be great for a Struts 1.x team, but you will be able to take advantage of an up-to-date MVC framework.

For me the two main features of Struts 2.x which will enhance productivity are:

• Built in AJAX support
• No more ActionForms - you can bind directly into Domain Objects if you want, so this intermediate step has gone.

If it's a big project you're working on, you might want to look at a component framework e.g. JSF 2 or Wicket. If you're determined to stay on an Action based framework then I personally find Stripes a more productive framework.