Foreword

Easy Web Controller main concepts were born four years ago in a long time real-world project that required migrating a very complex C/S application to the web (a Java webapp).

Java and web technology has evolved a lot since those initial steps. Along this time I have seen how different web frameworks evolved to become great projects (Struts or JSFs, among them). But, although I expected them to solve some key points, none of them have solved them yet.

Thus, I've decided to publish a framework that addresses all the issues I consider important, and I wanted to do it in the Open Source way: code is just code, so use it if it helps you to solve your problem.

May be you're wondering what I'm talking about when I say "important issues"... All of them can be summarized in just one idea: handle complexity in such a way that it can be scaled without problems. Most frameworks work fine with simple projects, but become impossible to handle when the complexity grows.

Easy Web Controller allows you to decompose web applications in such a way that you will be able to refactor it easily when needed (usually to add more complexity to the application).

EWC is a new born project, but mature in its conception. Use it, and enjoy it!

Miguel Ángel Ballesteros, Mar-2004, Valencia-Spain.

First steps

This section outlines a guided tour for getting into Java webapps programming using EWC. Follow these steps and you should be able to understand completely the EW C framework:

  1. Taste EWC with the demo application : Download the binary package and install the sample web applications.
  2. Learn about EWC architecture and subprojects : EWC framework is separated in four JARs: the controller JAR (this project), the core taglib subproject, and the HTML and XWIDGETS subprojects. Have a look at the architecture document for a detailed explanation.
  3. Read the EWC user's guide : Within the user's guide you should find everything you'll need to program with EWC.
  4. Read the EWC user's guide : Finally, this is the guide for developers that want to extend this framework of know its inner working. You will find useful information in the javadocs also.

In case you have questions, remember to look at the F.A.Q. . If you are experiencing problems, may be someone had the same problem before and is registered at the troubleshooting section.