1) My team builds one - so I'll declare an interest there
2) Diagrammers & IDEs can give you a real kick start to learning the absolute basics of Struts, there's nothing more frustrating than failing to get a simple two-page flow working simply because you've made an error in the web.xml, or your editor doesn't validate the Struts config against the DTD. People get put off before they've even got started. However, the big BUT here, is that the tool must help you, but not get in your way. If you want to hack the XML then it better let you do so.
3) I actually feel that page flow diagrams are a useful tool, both for documentation and for requirements gathering.
4) A good way to learn is to draw and then see what the tool has done for you.
This all being said, an IDE can really only help you with the basics of Action mappings and configurations. So you're going to have to get dirty at some point although I'd probably stop at downloading the Struts source and not reach for my copy of Peter Norton's Guide to x86 Assembler :-) The real fun comes later with that pesky data, but that's a whole separate topic.
My 2p
Regards
Duncan Mills www.groundside.com/blog
Frank W. Zammetti (MLists) wrote:
To answer your question, no, I haven't used it. But, since you are new to Struts, I'd actually caution against using such a tool.
As a general rule, I believe it is better to do things manually by hand when you are new to them. I think you will get a better understanding of how everything works that way. Then, later on, you can use the tools that make the more mundane tasks easier and quicker.
I've always felt that the best developers I've ever known, by and large, were better at least in part because they knew Assembly to some degree (even if they haven't actually coded in Assembly for a long time, like me). I think it helps you when you start working at a high level to know what's going on "under the covers", to at least some degree. There are of course plenty of exceptions everyone could point out to this, but I generally feel this is true. The same holds true for IDEs and code generators and any tool that takes some of the coding work away from you.
Just one man's opinion anyway.