For your next Java or JVM project, which web framework would you choose? Well, that really depends on what your priorities are and what type of application you are building. A video/steaming app has different requirements than a CRUD app, after all. But how can you easily decide using the various resources found all over the web?  

The 2014 Decision Maker’s Guide to Java Web Frameworks continues where we left off with the Curious Coder's Java Web Frameworks Comparison, and we've extended on this review of pring MVC, Struts, JSF, Wicket, Vaadin, Grails, Play and GWT by adding in two more categories (testability & security) as well as gauging each framework based on 7 application types/categories. 

The results are interesting; as it happens, there is a single web framework out there that will beat other frameworks in a one-to-one competition: Vaadin, followed closely Grails and Play. Most notably, the 3 largest frameworks, Spring MVC, Struts and JSF, ranked in the middle-to-low areas. However, when combining Spring with another framework (like GWT or Wicket), coders enjoy greater synergy than by using any single framework alone. 

This sort of information is valuable for coders starting new projects where a different framework might work better for the specific needs of the app. All in all, a tremendous report with lots of cool [and arguable] insights provided. 

Get the full report here: http://zeroturnaround.com/rebellabs/the-2014-decision-makers-guide-to-java-web-frameworks/.

Interesting analysis, but Zk was missing in your comparison table,

and I think it could win at the end....

Thanks for this very clear investigation. 

There is a context which goes beyond Java, which is relavant, see this investigation: http://www.infoq.com/research/top-javascript-mvc-frameworks?utm_source=infoq&utm_medium=popular_links_homepage

Missing criteria for me would be the SEO score. 

I agree with others that ZK might need to be added, really. I don't think it would be *that* much behind Vaadin in popularity.

Besides, Implementing a very straightforward REST application with JAX-RS at the server side, and something like AngularJS (or name any other JS framework) seems quite as contemporary as some other choices. AngularJS catches up with any of Vaadin, Wicket, ZK, at least on Google Trends:

http://www.google.ch/trends/explore?q=vaadin%2C+wicket%2C+zk%2C+angularjs

Good point Lukas--as it turns out, our expertise in the .js world of things isn't very deep, rather for the 50 or so web and server-side frameworks that we support with JRebel is where our knowledge lies. Perhaps you'd like to contribute a blog post comparing the best JS frameworks to the best Java frameworks? ;-) 

We are using Vaadin currently, and the only thing I can say is that it's just sooo amazing and superior to all these old-style crap like JSF or Spring MVC! This is the only way how you can be productive when building a Web GUI with java!

We are using Vaadin currently, and the only thing I can say is that it's just sooo amazing and superior to all these old-style crap like JSF or Spring MVC! This is the only way how you can be productive when building a Web GUI with java!

 

I've been a Wicket fan for some time now, however, I have to be honest in saying after using Vaadin for two weeks now, it's absolutely amazing!

Coming from a Swing background, I feel so productive and comfortable working.

Web development using Java only??!! Surely that's the gold standard.

Every other web framework now seems so old and tired.

If my Vaadin project keeps going great as it is doing so far, I don't think I can ever go back to using an old school web framework.

Vaadin seems to be proof that if you stick to computer science fundamentals, and do proper object oriented development of certain systems, there are benefits to be had.  If you stray from OO, you get half baked solutions, requiring an inordinate amount of time to get productive including wasted brain processing cycles.

Another great solution coming from a small dedicated team.

*** User beware: Vaadin for web applications, not websites!!! ***