The document discusses integrating Ajax into Spring applications. It recommends choosing a JavaScript library like Dojo or jQuery to provide progressive enhancement. Spring JavaScript can be used to connect these libraries to Spring-based server resources through techniques like decorating elements or handling AJAX events. REST and JSF components also offer ways to integrate Ajax and provide different resource representations.

1. Ajax Integration Guide for
Spring Enterprise Applications
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2. Introduction
• Who am I???
– Jeremy Grelle
• Senior Software Engineer, SpringSource
• Member of Spring Web Products team in
Melbourne, FL.
• Lead of Spring Faces, Spring JavaScript, JSF 2.0 EG
member.
• SpringSource's resident RIA ninja.
• Rock Star / Geek
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3. Our Open Source Projects
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4. Spring Uptake
Cumulative downloads (Sourceforge-only)
3,000,000
2,250,000
1,500,000
750,000
0
11/1/03
1/1/08
8/1/07
3/1/07
10/1/06
5/1/06
12/1/05
7/1/05
2/1/05
9/1/04
4/1/04
64% of enterprises using Spring
source: BEA dev2dev survey
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5. Our Commercial Products
Spring SpringSource
Enterprise Performance
Edition Suite
SpringSource
Enterprise
SpringSource
Support
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6. Application Server
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7. Topics
• A Plethora of Choices
– JavaScript libraries
– JSF components
– RIA remoting
• Approaches to integration with Spring
– Spring JavaScript
– Spring Faces
– Spring MVC – RESTful @Controller
– Spring Flex?
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8. The State of Ajax Today
• Too much choice?
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9. How Do We Choose a
JavaScript Library???
• Important Features:
– Ease of use / Quality of documentation
– Supports unobtrusive use / progressive
enhancement
– Support for accessibility
– Consistent cross-browser support
– Vibrant community
– Optimized for good performance
– Easy to integrate with Java / Spring
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10. The Cream Is Rising...
• The major players that are starting to
seperate themselves from the rest:
– Prototype / Scriptaculous
– jQuery
– YUI
– Ext
– Dojo
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11. Dojo – Our First Choice
• A complete framework that combines the low-level
utility of Prototype / jQuery with an extensive
collection of UI widgets.
• A modular packaging system that allows you to
“import” other modules, similar to Java's package
system.
• Pioneering support for accessibility in their widget
system
– ARIA
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12. Commonalities
• All of these frameworks are about more than just the
asynchronous exchange of data with the server.
• They all focus on improving the quality of your
client-side code and enabling you to bring a better
experience to your users.
• They are all able to be used in an unobtrusive
manner to provide a progressively enhanced UI
– Requires careful design.
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13. Connecting to Spring
• There are a number of effective
techniques available for connecting your
Ajax-enhanced UI to take advantage of
Spring-based server-side resources
• It is important to strike the right balance
between processing on the client and
processing on the server.
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14. The Progressive Approach
• Ideally take advantage of the existing
controller infrastructure.
• We want to have an application that is
able to maintain the same functionality
without Ajax as it does with Ajax.
– Progressively enhanced
– Focus on accessibility
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15. Spring Web
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16. Spring JavaScript
• New module introduced in the Web Flow 2
Distribution
• JavaScript abstraction framework that allows you to
progressively enhance a web page with behavior
– Consists of a public .js API and implementation
• Builds on Dojo, other implementations possible
(jQuery probably next)
• Handle the 80% case, while not hiding the
underlying library
• API can be used directly, or used by a tag lib
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17. Spring JavaScript
• Focus on progressive enhancement
– A more pragmatic approach than full RIA
• Support for partial fragment rendering
from Spring MVC through AjaxTilesView
• Dojo (optimized build) and CSS
Framework packaged for convenience
and served by the ResourceServlet
– Yahoo performance guidelines baked in
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18. Element Decoration Example
<form:input path=quot;creditCardNumberquot;/>
<script type=quot;text/javascriptquot;>
Spring.addDecoration(new Spring.ElementDecoration({
elementId : quot;creditCardNumberquot;,
widgetType : quot;dijit.form.ValidationTextBoxquot;,
widgetAttrs : {
invalidMessage : quot;Invalid credit card number!quot;,
regExp : quot;d{16}quot;,
required : true
}
}));
<script/>
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19. AJAX Event Decoration
Example
• Link decoration
<a id=quot;nextUrlquot; href=quot;...quot;>Next Page</a>
<script type=quot;text/javascriptquot;>
Spring.addDecoration(new Spring.AjaxEventDecoration({
elementId : quot;nextUrlquot;,
event : quot;onclickquot; }));
</script>
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20. Spring Booking-MVC
Code Examples and Demo
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21. JSF - Another level of
abstraction...
• JSF components can provide another
level of abstraction to allow you to add
Ajax functionality in a more declarative
manner.
– Established libraries such as ICEFaces and
Ajax4JSF
– Spring Faces
• Aims to ease the integration burden by being
compatible with leading Javascript frameworks.
• Builds on Spring JS
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22. Spring Faces
Code Examples and Demo
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23. RESTful Spring
• REST is an important piece of the evolving Spring
Web ecosystem.
– Central theme in Spring 3.0
• Provide different representations of the same
resource.
– HTML for full page display or partial DOM update.
– JSON for intelligent widgets such as the Dojo
table widget.
• dojo.data
– Any content type is possible
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24. RESTful @Controller
@RequestMapping(value=quot;/hotelsquot;, method=RequestMethod.GET)
public String getHotels(ModelMap model) {
List<Hotel> hotels = hotelService.getHotels();
model.addAttribute(quot;hotelsquot;, hotels);
return quot;hotelsquot;;
}
@RequestMapping(value=quot;/hotels/{hotel}quot;, method=RequestMethod.PUT)‫‏‬
public void updateHotel(@UriParam(quot;hotelquot;)long id, Hotel hotel) {
hotelService.updateHotel(id, hotel);
}
@RequestMapping(value=quot;/hotels/{hotel}/bookings/{booking}quot;, method=RequestMethod.GET)
public String getBooking(@UriParam(quot;hotelquot;)long hotelId, @UriParam(quot;bookingquot;)long
bookingId, ModelMap model) {
Hotel hotel = hotelService.getHotel(hotelId);
Booking booking = hotel.getBooking(bookingId);
model.addAttribute(quot;bookingquot;, booking);
return quot;bookingquot;;
}
@RequestMapping(value=quot;/hotels/{hotel}/bookingsquot;, method=RequestMethod.POST)‫‏‬
public void addBooking(@UriParam(quot;hotelquot;)long hotelId, Booking booking) {
// store booking
}
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25. RESTful Spring
Code Examples and Demo
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26. RIA Remoting - Spring Flex?
• Basic approaches to integration available now
– Adobe's BlazeDS and LiveCycle Data Services
– GraniteDS
• Would be interesting to reduce the conceptual
overhead
– Reduce configuration required
– Expose Spring beans directly
• Prototyping deeper BlazeDS integration for the
Spring 3.0 timeframe
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27. Spring Flex?
Code Examples and Demo
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28. Summary
• Spring has always emphasized choice
– No different with Ajax and RIA
– Same Spring service infrastructure for any
client type
• Spring MVC's flexible infrastructure makes it
well-suited to Ajax and RIA
• Choose the client-side technology based on
merit and fit for application requirements
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29. Resources
• Spring Framework and Spring Web Flow distros:
http://www.springframework.org/downloads
• Dojo
http://www.dojotoolkit.org
• Adobe BlazeDS
http://opensource.adobe.com/wiki/display/blazeds/BlazeDS/
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