JBoss Seam vs JSF: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this article, we will discuss the key differences between JBoss Seam and JSF. Both JBoss Seam and JSF are frameworks that are used in Java web development. While JSF is a standalone framework, JBoss Seam is an extension of JSF that provides additional features and functionality.

1. Architecture: The architecture of JBoss Seam and JSF differs significantly. JSF follows a component-based architecture, where the application is built around reusable UI components. On the other hand, JBoss Seam follows a conversational component-based architecture, which allows for more complex conversation and business process management.

2. Scope Management: JSF provides various scopes to manage the lifecycle and state of components, such as request, view, session, and application scopes. JBoss Seam, in addition to these scopes, introduces some additional scopes like conversation scope, which allows for better management of long-running user interactions.

3. Contextual Injection: JBoss Seam provides a powerful feature called contextual injection, which allows components to be automatically injected with contextual references based on their declared dependencies. This greatly simplifies the development process and eliminates the need for manual dependency injection. JSF, on the other hand, does not have this feature and relies on other dependency injection frameworks like CDI.

4. Event Handling: JBoss Seam provides a built-in event model that allows components to raise and handle events. This enables loose coupling between components and promotes better scalability and reusability. JSF does not have a built-in event model, although it can still be achieved by integrating JSF with other frameworks like CDI.

5. Data Binding: JBoss Seam provides advanced data binding capabilities, allowing for seamless binding of UI components to managed beans without the need for additional configuration. JSF also supports data binding, but it requires more manual configuration and is not as seamless as in JBoss Seam.

6. Exception Handling: JBoss Seam provides a comprehensive exception handling mechanism that allows for centralized exception handling and logging. It also provides features like retry, redirect, and page-level exception handling. JSF does not have a built-in exception handling mechanism and relies on other frameworks for handling exceptions.

In summary, JBoss Seam extends the functionality of JSF by providing additional features like conversation management, contextual injection, built-in event handling, advanced data binding, and comprehensive exception handling. These additional features make JBoss Seam a more powerful and efficient framework for developing complex Java web applications.