Stuart Moffatt wrote:
All,I like this as well. How is the performance under CGI though? Do you support an identical config to struts? Which version of struts do you support?
About a month ago, I was put on a project that was perl-based, but with no framework. As our GUI team develops mostly in java, and now mostly with struts, I came to love the MVC architecture. Simple to estimate, design, and maintain. I loved struts mvc so much that I implemented a struts-like framework in plain old CGI. I used it for the perl project with great success: quick, modular development from the client to the API.
Do you sit on top of wombat? The Perl Servlet API?
Sounds good to me.I called it Straps (STRuts - A Perl Substitute). [Struts-developers: Let me know if I've broken the rules for embedding Struts in the nickname]. It is a bit of a cutesy name, but I didn't want to assume I could use Struts.pm -- and it really isn't just an interface to a struts-ish servlet, it actually replaces one.
The main controller, rather than a java servlet, is a cgi installed in theInteresting! Do you emulate the Struts widgets in HTML::Template?
docroot at /straps/servlet.cgi
All requests go through this cgi, fire off Actions and ActionForms (just
like struts), store data in the session. and then land on a resulting cgi
page that would get the data out of the session and load up an
HTML::Template for the view. The ActionForms contain our application data
models.
I think the Apache-specific one should be Apache::App::Straps (similar to Chris' thing) but that you should make this module as Apache-specific as possible but require CGI::Straps or Straps or CGI::App::Straps as the core set of modules that defines straps.All in all, a rudimentary, but working version of a perl implementation of struts.
But like most CGI apps, there were failings (performance, URI control, etc)
In the last two weeks, I've converted the "servlet" cgi to mod_perl, and made it look like a real struts servlet. I have not ported the application yet, but I have a new project that is also perl so I will build this app on top of the mod_perl version of Straps, which I am tentatively calling Apache::Straps. You all know the kinds of speed improvements I've seen (100-150x on the loading of the framework alone with a small test application), not to mention the hooks into the URI-mapping and request cycle that I am ecstatic about.
If you put this project primarily under the Apache::* namespace, it will be mistakenly branded as being Apache-specific which it shouldn't be IMHO.
The best two examples of modules that were created under Apache::* namespace and still (I believe) confuse people into thinking they are only for mod_perl is Apache::Session (which can be used for CGIs) and Apache::DBI (which can be used for other persistent Perl environments). I personally believe you should avoid this problem.
In addition, there are many other mechanisms for improving performance of CGI from SpeedyCGI and I think Matt Sergeant has a PersistentPerl interface, and then there is ActiveState's PerlEx (Not greatly supported these days but it does exist )for IIS and Velocigen as a commercial product to embed Perl in Netscape And ISAPI Servers like IIS... etc..
So I think if a group of people used SpeedyCGI, you might find your CGI version of Straps having reasonable performance.
Where is the website? straps.sourceforge.com? :)Anyway, I thought the Right Thing To Do was get the idea out on this list before any upload to CPAN, etc. I suppose at some point I'd have to talk to the Struts people to find out if they mind as the framework and config file uses the same naming conventions as struts.
Comments?
Is there a mailing list I can subscribe to? You might want to also cross post to the p5ee mailing list ... as servlet API to some degree falls a little bit under p5ee (servlets being a part of j2ee).
Good Luck! Gunther
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