Being one of the matured server-side programming languages, Java’s ecosystem includes a large number of frameworks, strong developer community, and a vast number of web development companies that build java based software.

Besides, it is a platform-independent programming language that follows an object-oriented programming paradigm, resulting in straightforward coding, improved code readability, and maximized reusability. 

There are many Java frameworks that add to these values by bringing proper structure to the web development process. Also, Java frameworks contain libraries, pre-written code, classes, templates, components, and other structures to accelerate the speed of development.

However, as there are a huge gamut of Java frameworks, which make it extremely difficult to choose the best framework for your web app development project. To help you out with the process, we have created a concise yet informative list of frameworks.

If you are a startup, working with a small-sized Java development company, this guide would definitely help you make informed decisions.

Top Java Web Development Framework

While Java has a long list of frameworks, these 3 frameworks made it to the list because of their widespread use, multitude of functionality and features, and large community.

1. Spring

Spring is synonymous with the Java framework. This lightweight framework is extensively used for building powerful and scalable web applications, using POJO implementation (Plain Old Java Object). Besides, Java developers can choose between XML or java-based annotations for configuration options. The DIC and IoC (Inversion of Control) features are managed within the framework, which make the job easier for the developers.

Key highlights of Spring Framework

• Aspect oriented programming (AOP) is very well implemented in the Spring framework

• Spring bean factory controls the creation and destruction of beans within the framework

• It provides a generic Transaction management layer which is functional even without a J2EE(JEE) environment

• Simplifies exception handling by providing their own abstraction of JDBC exception

Spring framework can ideally be used for all types of Java based web applications, ranging from applets, standalone tools, standalone GUI apps, websites, and more.

2. Grails 

Grails is an open-source web development framework which follows the “coding by convention” paradigm. Also known as a high productivity framework, Grails offers a ready-to-use development environment, along with sample applications to showcase the functional capabilities of the framework.

When selecting a Java development company for your web project, you may check the frameworks their developers are comfortable with. Grails is one of the few persistent frameworks— a kind that outlives the process used to create it.

Key highlights Grails framework

• Built on top of Spring Boot and thus have many time-saving features such as Spring-powered dependency injection.

• Integrates and interoperate with Java, the JVM, and existing Java EE containers

• Allow Java developers to build REST APIs using Java fronted libraries such as React and Angular

• Developers may use plugins publish by large Java plugins community to enhance the Grail framework

Hire Java developers with good experience in Grail framework and see your web project transform into a functional software application. It has a huge community as well which makes it easier for developers to get support and accelerate the speed of development. 

3. Hibernate     

Hibernate is a lightweight, open-source platform, which enables applying JPA (Java Persistence Specifications) for data persistence. The framework has ORM functionality, which simplifies data creation, data manipulation, and data access, using JDBC API that facilitates smooth interaction with the databases.

Key highlights of Hibernate

• Enable speed because cache is used internally

• HQL (Hibernate Query Language) generates independent queries, as a result, writing database specific queries is not required

• Allow automatic creation of database table to save time

• Simplify searching data from multiple tables

• Support query cache to use query statistics to build solid query plans, and set guidelines for query optimization

If you are planning to hire Java developers with experience in the Hibernate web development framework, you may check how efficient they are with core interfaces of Hibernate framework, HQL, and Hibernate configuration objects.

The Final Thoughts

This list could have been easily extended with many other prominent names such as Struts, Google Web Toolkit(GWT), Play, Apache Wicket, Spark, and Vaadin. Considering the vast Java community, it is easy to work with a Java Software Development company with large teams in offshore locations or hire individual Java developers, depending on your project requirement.