Sculptor 3.1

[pavel.tavoda]

Do we have some hot requests for 3.1 release? My list:

- I would like to add support for FindByStat to JPA2 implementation (now it's implemented only in JpaHib).

- Add support for ChainOverride also for Transformations

Pavel

[Torsten Juergeleit]

For the next minor version update I would like to see the following:

- Getting rid of Sculptor generators internal MWE2 workflow by implementing it via Xtend (see issue #8 and issue #53) -> this would allow us to remove MWE2 classes from generators eclipse library and getting rid of our own MWE2 support code

- Additional refactoring of Sculptor templates into cartridges as already done with the builder features and mongoDB support -> each cartridges should be moved in its own Maven project to reduce compile time of spring-generator-core

- Refactoring of Sculptor runtime framework into multiple smaller libraries (with specific Maven dependencies) similar to the Spring Framework, e.g. for mongoDB the JPA stuff is not needed or for JPA2 the JPA1 stuff is obsolete -> this would solve issue #79

/Torsten

[Torsten Juergeleit]

In Sculptor 3.1 we should modernize the target platform and drop support for outdated technologies, e.g.
- Update to Spring 4
- Use Springs Java Config instead of XML
- Adopt Spring Datas Repository approach
- Leverage Spring Boot
- Update to Hibernate 4 and drop support for Hibernate 3
- Drop support for JPA1
- Update to JavaEE 6 and its APIs, e.g. Servlet API 3 or EJB 3.1

/Torsten

[pavel.tavoda]

Hello Torsten,

what advantage Spring Config can provide instead of XML? No offensive just asking what you see as advantage for us.
Is somebody really using Spring Boot instead of WAR deployment?

[Torsten Juergeleit]

Hi Pavel,

>what advantage Spring Config can provide instead of XML? No offensive just asking what you see as advantage for us.

It's a matter of personal preference and the size / complexity of the projects. Your mileage may vary. I'm personally have issues wading through a plethora of verbose XML files (with multilevel of import cascades scattered across a multitude of modules in a fairly complex system) in a format / syntax which is hardly human-readable. From my point of view is XML one of the worst programming languages. Ok, we we have advanced spring-xml-aware tooling now which keeps us from getting hit by a configuration issues (e.g. missing type safety) earlier than right after starting the application context.

At the end of the day one has to make its own experiences and compare both approaches in a non-trivial project. There're a few blog posts / articles available stating pros and cons, e.g. Spring Dependency Injection Styles - Why I love Java based configuration or Consider replacing Spring XML configuration with JavaConfig.

>Is somebody really using Spring Boot instead of WAR deployment?

I'm planning to use Spring Boot in production right now. Ok, it's only a small command line application which is also started as a web container which automatically schedules the command line as a background job at regular interval. It's really cool to get a production-ready command line application (which optionally supports being deployed as a self-contained web app with REST based administration) with a few lines of Java code and a Maven POM. And it's really refreshing to get up to speed with a minimum of XML dependency plumbing (no dependency hell) and a few lines of clever Java code (fluent API) without using a code generator like Sculptor :-P

Spring Boot is a new technology. But it's got very good reviews / PR. Especially I like the buzz "Micro Frameworks" or "Micro Services". Sounds cool, yeah, a new architecture style ;-)

So with Spring Boot it's the same as with Spring Java Config: It's a matter of taste / preference / requirements. There're plenty of blog posts / articles with hands-on experiences available, e.g. Porting legacy Java backend to Spring Boot in one week or A Webapp Makeover with Spring 4 and Spring Boot.

Just my 2cents.

/Torsten

[El Deffo]

Spring Boot support would be great, is this something that's being worked on at all?

On Tuesday, April 22, 2014 3:58:32 PM UTC+2, Torsten Juergeleit wrote:

[Torsten Juergeleit]

Spring Boot support would be great, is this something that's being worked on at all?

Yes, the corresponding ticket is #167. A Spring Boot sample application (based on Sculptors REST Tutorial) can be found here.

/Torsten