JSTL vs Quarkus: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this article, we will explore the key differences between JSTL (JavaServer Pages Standard Tag Library) and Quarkus.

1. Performance: Quarkus, a microservices-oriented framework, is known for its excellent performance. It leverages techniques like ahead-of-time compilation and GraalVM to achieve fast startup times and low memory footprint. In contrast, JSTL does not directly impact performance as it is a tag library for JavaServer Pages (JSP) and mainly focuses on simplifying the presentation layer.

2. Framework vs Tag Library: Quarkus is a full-fledged framework that provides a wide range of features and tools for developing and deploying Java applications. It offers dependency injection, reactive programming, and support for various frameworks and libraries. On the other hand, JSTL is a tag library that provides pre-defined tags for common tasks in JSP, such as iteration, conditional rendering, and formatting. It enhances the functionality of JSP pages but does not provide a complete framework like Quarkus.

3. Technology Stack: Quarkus is built on top of popular technologies like Eclipse MicroProfile and GraalVM. It embraces a modern software stack that includes technologies like CDI (Contexts and Dependency Injection), Hibernate ORM, RESTEasy (JAX-RS implementation), and Apache Kafka. JSTL, being specific to JSP, is tightly integrated with Java Servlets and JSP technology and does not provide a wider technology stack like Quarkus.

4. Runtime Environment: Quarkus is designed to run on multiple platforms and environments, including containers, Kubernetes, and serverless environments. It provides native image support, enabling efficient deployment and scaling. In contrast, JSTL runs within a Java web container or application server that supports JSP and Servlets. It does not have native image support and is not optimized for containerized deployments.

5. Development Approach: Quarkus promotes a modern and agile development approach with features like live coding and hot-reloading, which enable developers to see the changes instantly without restarting the entire application. It also provides extensive tooling and developer-friendly APIs. JSTL, being focused on JSP, follows a traditional development approach where changes in JSP pages require redeploying the application for the changes to take effect.

6. Scalability and Microservices: Quarkus is designed for building scalable microservices architectures. It offers features like reactive programming, fault tolerance, and clustering support. It also integrates well with other microservices-related technologies like OpenShift and Istio. JSTL, on the other hand, does not have built-in support for microservices-oriented features and primarily focuses on enhancing the presentation layer of traditional monolithic web applications.

In summary, Quarkus is a high-performance, feature-rich framework for building modern Java applications with support for various technologies and deployment options. JSTL, on the other hand, is a tag library that enhances the functionality of JSP pages but does not provide the extensive features and scalability options offered by Quarkus.