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Is PrimeFaces the best JSF Component Library?

 
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Hi,

I've been exploring Primefaces components for sometime and I am impressed with the responsiveness of the tool.
Just would like to ask from ranchers here if they would recommend this?

I havent check Richfaces/MyFaces or Icefaces though.

Thanks
 
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My standard answer to "best" is

It's right up there with binary political ideologies and other over-simplifications that should have been discarded once the participants reached the age of 16 years (and alas, too often aren't).

If I had to pick the top 3 contenders for JSF enhancements currently in play at the JavaRanch, they'd be IceFaces, RichFaces and PrimeFaces. Although we do have people using Oracle ADF and Apache's extensions as well. I've been spending all my time lately in RichFaces and I find it suitable for my needs. Which is what really counts.

What's "best" is what's optimal for you and the job you need it for. However, in the Real World, you often end up with what someone else imposes on you.
 
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Mark Reyes wrote:Hi,

I've been exploring Primefaces components for sometime and I am impressed with the responsiveness of the tool.
Just would like to ask from ranchers here if they would recommend this?

I havent check Richfaces/MyFaces or Icefaces though.

Thanks



I can only provide input on PrimeFaces, but I think it's a really great set of components and is actively developed and maintained. I recommend it. Over the other two? I can't say, having had no experience with them.
 
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I've mostly used Richfaces (for real projects) and Primefaces (for samples / demos).
Both are fine.
Check the demos and pick the library you prefer (http://www.primefaces.org/showcase-labs/ui/home.jsf, http://richfaces-showcase.appspot.com/richfaces/component-sample.jsf).

If you like google trends, you can check http://www.google.com/trends?q=primefaces%2Crichfaces%2Cicefaces&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0

Primefaces
Pace of evolution is really quick (the fastest one) - quite amazing.
From what I've seen classic use cases are simpler with Primefaces.
For instance, look at the selection feature in dataTable and the related java code :
* Primefaces (http://www.primefaces.org/showcase-labs/ui/datatableRowSelectionMultiple.jsf)
* Richfaces (http://richfaces-showcase.appspot.com/richfaces/component-sample.jsf?demo=extendedDataTable&sample=exTableSelection&skin=blueSky)
Same thing for database pagination (primefaces LazyDataModel is trivial to implement).
If you're interested in theming, you can use jQuery UI themeRoller with PF.
Also, if you're looking into mobiles (iPhone look), you can use Primefaces mobile components (included in primefaces.jar).
http://www.primefaces.org/showcase-labs/mobile/index.jsf
Primefaces 3 isn't finished, but it's stable start your development.
PF 3 RC is going to be delivered end of November.

Richfaces
Backed by JBoss.
Richfaces 4.0 hasn't all the components included in RF 3. But it's gonna to be corrected in RF 4.1 (actually in milestone).
Fine component library, didn't have too much issues (only with extendedDataTable or scrollabeDataTable in RF 3.x).
So it's a fine choice also.

About Icefaces
Some time ago (one year ?) Icefaces appeared to be less performant than the other 2 libraries (see http://www.hightechno.info/2011/05/primefaces-vs-richfaces-vs-icefaces.html).
Since JSF is already no friend of performance, I stayed out of this library.
Didn't looked at it lately though.

 
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I'm restoring a blog post that links to the showcase for references, it'll be completed tonight:

JSF Component Library Showcases
http://robertjliguori.blogspot.com/2014/04/jsf-component-library-showcases.html
 
Robert James Liguori
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Have there been any newer JSF component libraries that I haven't listed?

Thanks,
Robert
 
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Richfaces
Richfaces, according to the showcase, contains about 39 core components and "variants" (11 core components, 6 panels, 9 tables-grid,1 tree, 4 toolbar,8 menu).
The number of components has not grown so much in the last years, however RF ships with a Component Development Kit (CDK) - a sub-project that allows you to easily create rich components with built-in AJAXsupport.

The significant features of the Component Development Kit (CDK) are: quick development (template based) start and declarative approach for a component development. It's only necessary to specify meta-data and a code specific for your component.

This seems a quite promising area, however it seems lacking some concrete examples of it through the net- the only one I have been available to find is http://blog.yonatan.me/2011/08/richfaces-cdk-tutorial-hello-world.html


Icefaces
Icefaces contains about 70 core components (http://wiki.icefaces.org/display/ICE/ICE+Components+Reference)

Additionally, you can plug-in the The ACE Components (ICEfaces Advanced Components) which are the next-generation of open source ICEfaces components. Currently featuring over 40 components including the ace:dataTable, the ACE Components utilize a blend of server-side and client-based rendering techniques to provide a rich, responsive user-experience with reduced network and server-processing requirements.

Primefaces
Primefaces features a rich set of 117 components (core components + variants) (http://www.primefaces.org/showcase/ui/home.jsf )which include, besides the standard set of components also many goodies like HtmlEditors, Charts, date Schedule and an Exceldata exporter beside the others.

This suite uses behind the scenes, jQuery with its amazing widgets, plugins, themes andAjax interactions. It's avoided on purpose other JS / UI frameworks in order to have a high compatibility between components. Primefaces is easier to skin since it is based on themeroller. It also has more built-in themes (about 25) than that is available in Richfaces and IceFaces.
If this does not seem enough,


Read full comparison click here
 
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