Purpose of this project

This Java/Gradle based repository illustrates a selection of Java-based microframeworks.

It implements a functionally identical grocery list application with Spark, Ninja, Ratpack and Jodd is meant as supplement for my article on heise developer online (german).

Prerequisites

• Installed JDK 8+ with proper set JAVA_HOME environment variable

This repository comes with a pre-bundled Gradle Wrapper gradlew or gradlew.bat (Windows) which will download the appropriate build dependencies automatically on the first run.

Optional (recommended for development):

• Gradle 2.8+
• Lombok Plugin for your IDE of choice (Preferably: IntelliJ IDEA UE)
• IntelliJ IDEA (Ultimate Edition)

Spark Java

Spark is a tiny Sinatra inspired framework for creating web applications in Java 8 with minimal effort

Starting the demo application

Option #1: Using Gradle

Run the demo with gradle :spark:run and access http://localhost:8080/

Option #2: Using IntelliJ IDEA

Open the project using IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate and execute the Spark: Run Example run configuration.

Option #3: As standalone JAR

Let gradle build the all-in-one UberJAR and directly execute it with Java (preferrably in the spark/ directory to leverage from the example grocerylists.json.

 gradlew :spark:shadowJar
 cd spark
 java -jar build/libs/spark-1.0-SNAPSHOT-all.jar

Ninja

Ninja is a opinionated, full stack framework including dependency injection, a optimized development mode and support for relational DBs.

Starting the demo application

Option #1: Using Gradle

Run the demo with gradle :ninja:run and access http://localhost:8080/ and http://localhost:8080/hello

Option #2: Using IntelliJ IDEA

Open the project using IntelliJ IDEA and execute the Ninja: Run Example run configuration.

Option #3: As standalone JAR

Let gradle build the all-in-one UberJAR and directly execute it with Java (preferrably in the ninja/ directory to leverage from the example grocerylists.json.

 gradlew :ninja:shadowJar
 cd ninja
 java -jar build/libs/ninja-1.0-SNAPSHOT-all.jar

Ratpack

Ratpack is a reactive-oriented, type-safe microframework heavily based on Java 8 lambdas and Netty for non-blocking IO.

Starting the demo application

Option #1: Using Gradle

Run the demo with gradle :ratpack:run and access http://localhost:5050/.

Option #2: Using IntelliJ IDEA

Open the project using IntelliJ IDEA and execute the Ninja: Run Example run configuration.

Option #3: As standalone JAR

Let gradle build the all-in-one UberJAR and directly execute it with Java (preferrably in the ratpack/ directory to leverage from the example grocerylists.json.

 gradlew :ratpack:shadowJar
 cd ratpack
 java -jar build/libs/ratpack-1.0-SNAPSHOT-all.jar      

Jodd

Jodd is set of Java micro frameworks, tools and utilities, under 1.5 MB. The framework consists of micro components, which can be used more or less independently.

Starting the demo application

Option #1: Using Gradle

Run the demo with cd jodd and gradle jettyRun and access http://http://localhost:8080/jodd/.

Option #2: Using IntelliJ IDEA

This example has no embedded servlet container bundled. To run you need to download a Jetty 8 container and use the commericial IntelliJ IDEA Ultimate edition. Open the project and configure the jodd: Run in Jetty run configuration. Check for a proper reference to a valid Jetty 8 installation under Application Server, then run the configuration.

Option #3: As deployable WAR

This module does not provide a all-in-one UberJAR. Following how to build a WAR file:

 gradlew :jodd:war
 cp jodd/build/libs/jodd-1.0-SNAPSHOT.war [tomcat]/webapps