You have got to be kidding about embedded Java code and lots of Smart Tags in JSP pages (Model 1), Informix Web DataBlade showed me the incredible stupidity of this approach i.e. massive pages, nasty error trapping and logging code, and appalling maintenance costs, so don't do it, however tempting, you will regret it! If you use JSP, use at least Model 2 JSP and consider using higher level engines for larger sites e.g. Java Faces, Velocity etc.

You have got to be kidding about embedded Java code and lots of Smart Tags in JSP pages (Model 1), Informix Web DataBlade showed me the incredible stupidity of this approach i.e. massive pages, nasty error trapping and logging code, and appalling maintenance costs, so don't do it, however tempting, you will regret it! If you use JSP, use at least Model 2 JSP and consider using higher level engines for larger sites e.g. Java Faces, Velocity etc.

I agree with a lot of points with the author. JSP is a good language to develop small and simple application. It's a pity that it is no more supported by Sun and the developper community.

Plain JSPs, with business, data access, and view logic rolled into one, should never be used for anything but the quickest and dirtiest prototype:
http://htmatters.net/htm/1/2005/08/Plain-JSPs-Just-Plain-Wrong.cfm

One thing you failed to mention when using JSP is the need for an application server. PHP on the other hand uses just the HTTP Server on a system with PHP installed. I have been a J2EE architect and developer for many years and recently when trying to get something professionally looking up and running, it is easier to forget about the app server and use something like PHP. Just my 2 cents.

Good article. It's worth noting that there is another free solution out there that marries the best of Java and the simplicity of tag based languages. While ColdFusion CF is Java under the covers, New Atlanta makes a competing product (Blue Dragon) that follows the CF language model (tag based) and for which the low end version is free. That version has about 80 plus percent of the features and certainly all that is needed if what is in view is moving from a site that is HTML to dynamic content. It is available in both Windows and Linux incarnations and is quite powerful. The major cost of a web site over time is maintenance and CF is a very "friendly" alternative to JSP. It can be readily understood by those coming primarily from HTML as it uses the same tag paradigm. Like ColdFusion, it uses Java as the core engine so it can easily be extended to incoroporate in Java anything needed that doesn't come natively. It's worth a look if you are looking at low cost (free is hard to beat.) I've ported a lot of code between commercial CF which we use at work and Blue Dragon which I use on my own sites with complete portability. The Macromedia folks are always upping the ante by adding new things but CF has been around for so long that the core things used to build dynamic sites are commodity features share by both products and very nearly identical in function. About the only thing required is adjustments in the SQL if you use a different underlying DB but that's true everywhere.

Unfortunately, I disagree with the whole choose a programming language theme. There is only one programming language left and thats Java.

But more than that, patterns like MVC and the complexity they foist on these "regular" programming languages are telling us something.

WHAT? Are they telling us? They are telling us that our programming languages are HORRIBLE at implementing real solutions.

They are great at HELLO WORLD, pounding expressions endlessly in loops and the FAKE bank account example.

But we have a really, really hard time delivering solid stuff with them.

So why is that? If these patterns are so indispensable then maybe the patterns have evolved further than the languages that we program in, because if it was that clear I would be programming in MVC not Java.

But alas, its not. We are using the wrong hammer no matter what we do these days and we just try to make things "maintainable" for our corporate bosses and espouse APIs and frameworks to cure our ill at every turn. Ah the joy of marketing.

Buts let not kid ourselves into believeing we have anything less than a full scale mess on our hands..Java, EJB, XML, (provide your own acronym here) or not.

I agree that small dynamic sites can ease development by keeping it to JSPs only. Applying a pattern of separating display code and action code into separate JSP files (e.g. http://fusebox.org) allows you to still have well-strutured code (MVC) that can be maintained by a team while still only working in JSP's.

How long it will take for Sun & co to realize that the development time is also a resource?

Back to Two Tiers and Plain JSP. There comes a time, for many Web sites, when the transition from static HTML to dynamic HTML has to be made. Whether it's a static company Web site that needs to become a dynamic online store, or a simple collection of family pictures that's become too large to manage with HTML alone, a decision has to be made to move to an environment that makes it easier to build and maintain the site. Deciding to use server-side programming to create your site on-the-fly can become the only option, but what language you decide to use can be a difficult and important decision.