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Apache Struts is a free open-source framework for creating Java web applications. For more about the Apache Struts project, visit the project web site.

Getting Started

The documentation is grouped into three areas.

An overview of all three areas is available.

Distributions

For your convenience, a one-stop all distribution is available. Individual elements of the distribution may also be downloaded separately.

Apache Struts 2 in a Nutshell

Apache Struts 2 helps you create an extensible development environment for your application, based on industry standards and proven design patterns.

Struts is a Model View Controller framework. Struts provides Controller and View components, and integrates with other technologies to provide the Model. The framework's Controller acts as a bridge between the application's Model and the web View.

To make it easier to present dynamic data, the framework includes its own library of markup tags. The tags interact with the framework's validation and internationalization features, to ensure that input is correct and output is localized. The tag library can be used with JSP, FreeMarker, or Velocity.

When a request is received, the Controller invokes an Action class. The Action class examines or updates the application's state by consulting the Model (or, preferably, an interface representing the Model). To transfer data between the Model and the View, properties can be placed on the Action class, or on a plain old JavaBean.

Most often, the Model is represented as a graph of JavaBean objects. The Model should do the "heavy lifting", and the Action will act as a "traffic cop" or adapter. The framework provides sophisticated, automatic type conversion to simplify transfering data between rich domain objects and text-only HTTP requests.

Struts Tags in a nutshell

Struts configuration in a nutshell

A web application uses a deployment descriptor to initialize resources like filters and listeners. The deployment descriptor is formatted as a XML document and named web.xml. Likewise, the framework uses a configuration file, named struts.xml, to initialize its own resources. These resources include action mappings, to direct input to server-side Action classes, and result types, to select output pages.

Here's a typical configuration (struts.xml) for a login workflow:

<struts>
    <include file="struts-default.xml"/>

    <package name="default" namespace="/" extends="struts-default">

        <action name="Logon" class="mailreader2.Logon">
            <result name="input">/pages/Logon.jsp</result>
            <result name="cancel" type="redirect-action">Welcome</result>
            <result type="redirect-action">MainMenu</result>
            <result name="expired" type="chain">ChangePassword</result>
        </action>

        <action name="Logoff" class="mailreader2.Logoff">
            <result type="redirect-action">Welcome</result>
        </action>

    </package>
</struts>

The framework provides general-purpose defaults, so you can start using Struts 2 right away, "out of the box". As needed, you can override any of our defaults in your application's configuration.

Struts 2 is extensible. Very extensible. Every class deployed by the framework is based on an interface. We provide base classes, but you can substitute your own. In the case of Action classes, even the interface is optional. POJO web development is here!

We provide the base framework, but you can still write your application your way.

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