Although it may blur the lines between view and model, there are a number of reasons that it still could be the right direction. * centralized configuration. all view configuration is in the same file as your model code. * leverage Java syntax instead of custom DSL. easy for users to get up and going when they have autocomplete for annotation configuration. * annotations are metadata, and this configuration *is* metadata for the view layer. * configuration by exception works well with annotations. Hibernate applies the same principle. you only need to declare annotations when you want to change the default behavior.
I do understand your disagreement. It's a very natural "Java" architecture to create abstractions and try to build to design patterns. Realistically though, there are times when it's just plain overboard. You could make the same argument that Hibernate annotations don't really belong in the model code since it's configuring the back end setup, but the beauty of annotations is that it's metadata that *any* layer has access to. I recently published a wicket/hibernate component that leverages the hibernate annotations to enforce view layer behavior (requiredness/max length). Talk about "blurring" the lines... I'm really impressed with your work, and just want to impart what's worked *really* well for me. Good luck with whatever direction you take. On 9/16/07, Dan Syrstad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Ryan: > > The WWB beanprops/metadata is a view abstraction, while your bean is a > part > of the model. It's my opinion that putting view-based annotations on your > model is Not a Good Thing. It confuses the separation of concerns. > > -Dan > > On 9/16/07, Ryan Sonnek <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > For me databinder helps cut the boilerplate code, just as WWB. I just > > add > > > annotations to my domain model, and databinder does the rest. It's WWB > > for > > > the database side of the app! Imagine putting both working together. I > > was > > > able to create CRUD pages with the least amount of code ever. Less > than > > > that > > > and it would need to read my mind... ;) > > > > > > > > > > Annotations have been a big win for Java. Many of their success stories > > have come out of their usage for "configuration" or "metadata". I think > > that WWB may be a cantidate for using annotations instead of the > beanprops > > file! > > >
