Integrating Spring Framework with JSF

http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-07-2004/jw-0719-jsf.html?page=7

This article shows you how to integrate JSF with the Spring Framework and Hibernate and build a real-world Web application. The combination of these three technologies provides a solid Web application development framework. A multitiered architecture should be used as the high-level architecture for Web applications. JSF fits into the MVC design pattern very well and can be used to implement the presentation tier. The Spring Framework can be used in the business-logic tier to manage business objects, and provide declarative transaction management and resource management. Spring integrates with Hibernate very well. Hibernate is a powerful O/R mapping framework and can provide the best services inside the integration tier.
By partitioning the whole Web application into tiers and programming against interfaces, the technology used for each application tier can be replaced. For example, Struts can take the place of JSF for the presentation tier, and JDO can replace Hibernate in the integration tier. Integration between the application tiers is not trivial. The use of inversion of control and the Service Locator design pattern can make it easier. JSF provides functionalities other Web frameworks like Struts lack. However, that does not mean you should dump Struts and start using JSF right away. Whether or not JSF should be used as the Web framework for your project depends on your project's status and functional requirements, and your team's expertise.
Author BioDerek Yang Shen has been working with J2EE exclusively for the past five years, with expertise in the development of multitiered Web applications and complex B2B systems. He is a Sun Certified Enterprise Architect. Shen holds a master's degree in computer science from the University of California at Los Angeles. He currently works with a large Internet company as a J2EE architect.

Download the JCatalog project sample applicationhttp://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-07-2004/jsf/jw-0719-jsf.zip
Official JavaServer Faces sitehttp://java.sun.com/j2ee/javaserverfaces/index.jsp
A good JSF tutorial can be found in The J2EE 1.4 Tutorial (Chapters 17 to 21)http://java.sun.com/j2ee/1.4/docs/tutorial/doc/index.html
More articles and books on JSFhttp://jsfcentral.com/reading/index.html
Official Spring Framework sitehttp://www.springframework.org
Good introduction to the Spring Framework by Rod Johnsonhttp://www.theserverside.com/articles/article.tss?l=SpringFramework
Rod Johnson's book Expert One-on-One J2EE Design and Development (Wrox, October 2002; ISBN0764543857) is the corner stone of the Spring Frameworkhttp://www.wrox.com/WileyCDA/WroxTitle/productCd-0764543857.html
Official Hibernate sitehttp://www.hibernate.org
Online documentation of Hibernatehttp://www.hibernate.org/hib_docs/reference/en/html/
Introduction to the integration between the Spring Framework and Hibernatehttp://hibernate.bluemars.net/110.html
"Designing Enterprise Applications with the J2EE Platform, Second Edition" is a good introduction to the multitiered architecture and MVC design patternhttp://java.sun.com/blueprints/guidelines/designing_enterprise_applications_2e/index.html
Commons BeanUtilshttp://jakarta.apache.org/commons/beanutils/
Commons FileUploadhttp://jakarta.apache.org/commons/fileupload/
For more on JavaServer Faces, read the following JavaWorld articles by David Geary
"A First Look at JavaServer Faces, Part 1" (November 2002)
"A First Look at JavaServer Faces, Part 2" (December 2002)
"JavaServer Faces, Redux" (November 2003)
Browse the JavaServer Pages section of JavaWorld's Topical Indexhttp://www.javaworld.com/channel_content/jw-jsp-index.shtml
Browse the Enterprise Java section of JavaWorld's Topical Indexhttp://www.javaworld.com/channel_content/jw-enterprise-index.shtml

-Madhu