JSP Technology -- Friend or Foe?

The problems

I've spelled out what a good presentation technology should provide, as well as the specific problems that JSP technology seeks to address. Now, I'm ready to cut to the chase: JSP technology, while built on good ideas, presents quite a few problems. Before you choose to use JSP coding in your applications (which you might still do), you should at least be aware of possible pitfalls.

You should also be aware of a facet of the J2EE programming platform that is often ignored: just because an API comes with the platform doesn't mean you have to use it. As silly as this sounds, many developers are struggling with the JSP, or EJB, or JMS APIs, thinking if they don't use these APIs, their applications somehow won't really be "J2EE applications." In fact, the platform boasts more APIs than most applications need. If you have problems with or doubts about JSP technology, you don't have to use it! Take a close look at both the positives and the negatives before choosing to use JSP technology in your applications. Let's take a look at some of the negatives.

Portability vs. language lock-in

JSP technology locks you into a specific language. This point shouldn't be given too much weight. Java technology for enterprise applications (in my opinion, at least) is the only language choice. And there are no language-independent solutions in this space anyway. Of course, at this stage of the game, I'm disregarding the Microsoft .NET platform for the smoke and mirrors it is. Only time will tell whether that platform will develop into one that is truly language-independent. (I'm more than a bit dubious.)

Still, choosing JSP technology forces you to use the Java language, at least for presentation and content. While CORBA can be used for business logic, JSP coding does necessitate some familiarity with servlets as well as the core Java language. Since many developers come to JSP coding through the J2EE platform, this doesn't usually present a problem.

Mingling vs. independence

Throughout this article, I've come back to the idea of separating content from presentation. You're probably pretty sick of hearing about this, so now's the time to determine whether or not JSP actually accomplishes this goal. As I've already discussed, JSP claims to have been designed for this separation purpose, and therefore we should assume it achieves its objectives, right? Not necessarily.