Tuesday, April 14, 2009

ADF framework Competitive Comparison

One repetitive question i have to answer is:
why ADF, and how does it compare to other frameworks?
The world of software development is a world of multiple options, so i am going to try to summarize why and when choosing ADF versus other options makes a lot of sense.
Let's divide between technical arguments and the rest.
Technical arguments:
  • The most complete palette of components (+150)
  • Functionality: drag and drop support, pop-up and dialog windows, menus, templating, skinning, accessibility, internalization etc
  • MetaFramework (ADF Faces Rich Client + ADF BC + Binding + ...). Probably you won´t need to combine with any other framework
  • Java Standards based (JSR-127, JSR-227, ...)
  • AJAX hybrid architecture (client side + server side) to improve performance
  • Multiple browsers support (FireFox 2.0, FireFox 3.0, Internet Explorer 7.0, Safari 3.0)
  • Mobile version (Windows Mobile Pocket IE for Windows Mobile 5, 6 /BlackBerry Browser 4)
Other arguments:
  • ADF is key to Oracle Fusion Architecture, so its continuity is guaranteed (very safe bet these days)
  • ADF is based on Java JSF Standard, so lots of synergies with Java ecosystem
  • Open Source friendly, specially compared with Microsoft .Net Framework
  • ADF 11g (October, 2008) is a great step fordward compared with ADF 10g, so a lot of unknown potential yet.
  • ADF 11g Framework will be included in almost all Oracle Fusion Middleware and Applications new products
More info: