Hosta

This is a comparison of notable web application frameworks.

General

Basic information about each framework.

Perl

Project	Current Stable Version	Release Date	License
Catalyst	5.80017	2010-01-09	Artistic / GPL
Interchange	5.6.2	2009-09-17	GPL
Mason	1.43	2009-12-25	Artistic / GPL
Maypole	2.13	2008-04-17	Artistic / GPL
Reaction	0.002000	2009-04-29	Artistic / GPL

PHP

Project	Current Stable Version	Release Date	License
AgilePHP	0.2a	2009-09-07	GPL
Atomik Framework	2.2	2010-02-06	MIT
CakePHP	1.2.6	2010-01-29	MIT
Concrete5	5.3.3.1	2009-09-08	MIT
Drupal	6.15	2009-12-16	GPL
CodeIgniter	1.7.2	2009-09-11	BSD-style
Fat-Free	0.6.0	2010-02-04	Creative Commons
Joomla	1.5.15	2009-11-04	GPL
Horde	3.3.6	2009-12-15	LGPL
e107	0.7.16	2009-09-05	GPL
eZ Components	2009.2	2009-12-21	BSD
eZ Publish	4.2	2009-09-15	GPL
FUSE	1.2		MIT
Kohana	3.0.1		BSD
KumbiaPHP	0.5		BSD / GPL
Mambo	4.6.5		GPL
PEAR	1.4.0		PHP / Various
PHP For Applications	3.2.2		LGPL
PHP ActiveRecord	3.2.2		MIT
PHP Work	1.2	2009-06-13	MIT
Qcodo	0.4.2		MIT
QCubed	1.1	2009-10-19	MIT
Seagull	0.6.6		BSD
SilverStripe (Sapphire)	2.3.4	2009-11-27	BSD
SPIP	2.1.0	2009-10-31	GPL
Swiftlet	1.1.3	2010-01-09	GPL
Symfony	1.4.1	2009-12-08	MIT
TYPO3	4.3.0	2009-11-30	GPL
Yii	1.1.0	2010-01-10	BSD
Zend Framework	1.10.0	2010-01-27	BSD
Project	Current Stable Version	Release Date	License

Java

Project	Current Stable Version	Release Date	License
Apache Click	2.1.0		Apache
Apache Cocoon	2.2.0		Apache
Apache Struts	2.1.8.1		Apache
Apache Wicket	1.4.5	2009-12-16	Apache
AppFuse	2.0.2		Apache
Aranea	1.0.10		Apache
Eclipse RAP	1.2.0		Eclipse Public License
Google Web Toolkit	2.0		Apache
Hamlets	1.4		BSD
ItsNat			AGPL / Proprietary
IT Mill Toolkit	5.4.0		Apache
JavaServer Faces	2.0
JBoss Seam	2.2.0 GA		LGPL
OpenLaszlo	4.1		Common Public License
OpenXava	3.1		LGPL
pirka	1.0.4
RIFE	1.6.2		Apache
Shale	1.0.4		Apache
Sling			Apache 2.0
SmartClient			LGPL
Sofia	2.3		GPL
Spring	3.0.0		Apache
Stripes	1.5.2		LGPL
Tapestry	4.1.6/5.1.0.5		Apache
ThinWire	1.2		GPL
Vaadin	6.2.0		Apache
WebObjects	5.4.3		Proprietary
WebWork	2.2.6		Apache
ZK	5.0		LGPL
ztemplates	0.9.9.6		Apache
Project	Current Stable Version	Release Date	License

Python

Project	Current Stable Version	Release Date	License
CherryPy	3.1		BSD
CubicWeb	3.3.3		LGPL
Django	1.1.1		BSD
Grok	0.14		ZPL
Pyjamas	0.6		Apache
Pylons	0.9.7		BSD
TurboGears	2.0.1		MIT / LGPL
web2py	1.74.6		GPLv2 with a commercial exception
Zope 2	2.10		ZPL
Zope 3	3.3		ZPL
Project	Current Stable Version	Release Date	License

Ruby

Project	Current Stable Version	Release Date	License
Camping	1.5		MIT
Merb	1.0 RC2		MIT
Nitro	0.41		BSD
Ruby on Rails	2.3.5	2009-11-27	MIT / Ruby
Sinatra	0.10.1		MIT

CFML (ColdFusion)

Project	Current Stable Version	Release Date	License	Summary
ColdFusion on Wheels	1.0	24 November 2009	Apache v2	A full-stack convention-based MVC framework, inspired by Rails.
ColdSpring	1.2	12 September 2008	Apache v2	Dependency Injection and AOP framwork
Fusebox	5.5.1	8 March 2008	Apache	The oldest CFML framework, supports MVC or not, convention or XML configuration.
Mach-II	1.6.1	29 March 2009	Apache	An Object-Oriented MVC framework
Model-Glue	3.1.185	11 August 2009	Apache	An Object-Oriented MVC implicit invocation, for web and RIA
onTap	3.3	7 November 2009	BSD	A full-stack MVC framework with integrated ORM

ASP.NET

Project	Current Stable Version	Language	License
ASP.NET MVC	1.0	ASP.NET	Ms-PL
BFC	7.40	ASP.NET	Proprietary
Csla	3.7.0	C#, VB.NET	Proprietary; Free to use for non-commercial and commercial applications.
DotNetNuke	4.8.0	ASP.NET	BSD
MonoRail	1.0 RC3	ASP.NET	Apache
Vici MVC	2.0.1	ASP.NET	MIT
Project	Current Stable Version	Language	License

Other

Project	Current Stable Version	Language	License
AIDA/Web	5.6	Smalltalk	MIT
CppCMS	0.0.4	C++	LGPL
Flex	3.0	ActionScript, MXML	MPL
Grails	1.2	Groovy (JVM)	Apache
Helma	1.6.3	Javascript	Helma License version 2.0
Kepler	1.1	Lua	MIT
Lift	1.0	Scala (JVM)	Apache
Midgard	8.09 LTS	PHP	LGPL
Morfik	1.3.1.18	Basic,Pascal,Java,C#	Proprietary
OpenACS	5.4.3	Tcl	GPL
Seaside	2.8	Smalltalk	MIT
Sproutcore	1.0 BETA	Javascript	MIT
Wavemaker	4.0.2	JavaScript	AGPL
Wt	2.99.5	C++	GPL
Project	Current Stable Version	Language	License

Comparison of Features

ASP.NET

Project	Ajax	MVC framework	MVC Push/Pull	i18n & l10n?	ORM	Testing framework(s)	DB migration framework(s)	Security Framework(s)	Template Framework(s)	Caching Framework(s)	Form Validation Framework(s)
ASP.NET MVC	Yes	Yes	Push		ORM-independent	Unit Tests		ASP.NET Forms Auth	pluggable (default is WebForms)	Yes	Yes (client-side via plugins)
BFC	Yes	Not mandatory	Push & Pull	Yes	through active data dictionary	Unit Tests	SQL Server, Oracle, DB2, Sybase, MySQL	security groups and rules	Yes	metadata and result sets	data dictionary-driven
DotNetNuke	Yes	No	Pull	Yes	SubSonic, NHibernate	Unit Tests	Yes	ACL-based (OpenID, LiveID, Active Directory, LDAP, CardSpace, ASP.NET Forms Auth)	Yes	Pluggable	ASP.NET Validators, built-in API
MonoRail	Prototype	Active record pattern	Push	Yes	Active record pattern	Unit Tests		via ASP.NET Forms Authentication	Yes	Yes	Yes
Vici MVC	Yes	Yes	Push	Yes	ORM-independent	Unit Tests		via ASP.NET Forms Authentication	Yes	No	Yes
Project	Ajax	MVC framework	MVC Push/Pull	i18n & l10n?	ORM	Testing framework(s)	DB migration framework(s)	Security Framework(s)	Template Framework(s)	Caching Framework(s)	Form Validation Framework(s)

C++

Project	Ajax	MVC framework	MVC Push/Pull	i18n & l10n?	ORM	Testing framework(s)	DB migration framework(s)	Security Framework(s)	Template Framework(s)	Caching Framework(s)	Form Validation Framework(s)
CppCMS		Yes	Push	Yes	Limited, SQL library	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Wt	Yes	Yes	Push & Pull	Yes	No			Yes	No	No	Yes
Project	Ajax	MVC framework	MVC Push/Pull	i18n & l10n?	ORM	Testing framework(s)	DB migration framework(s)	Security Framework(s)	Template Framework(s)	Caching Framework(s)	Form Validation Framework(s)

CFML

Project	Ajax	MVC framework	MVC Push/Pull	i18n & l10n?	ORM	Testing framework(s)	DB migration framework(s)	Security Framework(s)	Template Framework(s)	Caching Framework(s)	Form Validation Framework(s)
ColdFusion on Wheels	Yes	Yes			Yes			Yes			Yes
Fusebox	via CF or any JavaScript Library	optional	Push	No, custom	via lexicons for Transfer and Reactor	via MXUnit, and others	No	via plugins		via lexicon for ColdSpring	No
Mach-II	via CF or any JavaScript Library	Yes	Push	via plugin	Transfer, Reactor, Hibernate	via MXUnit, and others		via plugins		ColdSpring
Model-Glue	via CF or any JavaScript Library	Yes	Push		Transfer, Reactor, Hibernate	via MXUnit, and others		via plugins		ColdSpring
onTap	native features + Prototype + script.aculo.us	optional	Push	Yes	DataFaucet [3]	via MXUnit, and others	DataFaucet has potential - supports multiple db platforms	Members onTap Plugin	Yes	Yes	Yes
Project	Ajax	MVC framework	MVC Push/Pull	i18n & l10n?	ORM	Testing framework(s)	DB migration framework(s)	Security Framework(s)	Template Framework(s)	Caching Framework(s)	Form Validation Framework(s)

Java

Project	Language	Ajax	MVC framework	MVC Push/Pull	i18n & l10n?	ORM	Testing framework(s)	DB migration framework(s)	Security Framework(s)	Template Framework(s)	Caching Framework(s)	Form Validation Framework(s)
Apache Click	Java	Yes	Page Oriented	Pull	Yes	Hibernate and Cayenne	Yes		Template:Pluggable	Velocity and JSP	Template:Cached Templates	Built-in validation
Sling	Java	Yes	Yes	Push & Pull		Uses JCR content repository			Yes	Yes	Yes
Apache Struts	Java	Yes	Yes	Push & Pull	Yes	Yes	Unit Tests			Yes		Yes
Apache Wicket	Java	Yes, extensions for YUI, ExtJS and more	Modular event driven	Pull	Yes	Yes, thanks to extensions	Yes, mock objects, unit and integration tests through an extension		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Aranea	Java	Yes		Pull	Yes	Yes				mapping-applications using contributions from users to advantage
IT Mill Toolkit	Java	GWT		Pull	Yes	Yes	JUnit, IT Mill Testing Tools			Yes		Yes
ItsNat	Java	Yes	event driven	Push	using Java i18n		external and built-in		pluggable	pure HTML/SVG	page caching	normal Java
JBoss Seam	Java	Yes	Yes	Pull	Yes	JPA, Hibernate	JUnit, TestNG		JAAS integration, Drools, Hibernate Filters, OpenID, CAPTCHA	Facelets	JbossCache, EHCache	Hibernate Validator
OpenXava	Java	Yes	Model Driven		Yes	JPA, Hibernate and EJB2 CMP	JUnit	Hibernate tools	uses JSR-168 portal security	UI is automatically generated	uses portal and JPA caching	Yes
RIFE	Java	DWR (Java)	Yes	Push & Pull	Yes	Yes	Out of container testing		Yes	Yes	Integration with Terracotta	Yes
Spring	Java		Yes		Yes	Hibernate, iBatis, etc	Yes, mock objects & unit tests		Spring Security (formerly Acegi)	Commons Tiles, Velocity, etc.	ehcache etc.	Commons Validator
Stripes	Java	Yes	Yes	Push	Yes	Hibernate	Yes		framework extension	Yes		Yes
Tapestry	Java	Yes	Yes	Pull	Yes	integrated with Hibernate (tapestry-hibernate module)			tapestry5-acegi library	Yes		built-in validation system
Vaadin	Java	GWT		Pull	Yes	Yes	Yes			Yes		Yes
Wavemaker	JavaScript (client), Java (server)	Dojo Toolkit	Yes	Push	Dojo Toolkit	Hibernate (Java)	JUnit	Hibernate (Java)	Spring Security, Acegi, Role-based access control	Dojo Toolkit	Dojo Toolkit	Regular expression, schema-driven validation
WebObjects	Java	Yes	Yes	Push & Pull	Yes	EOF	WOUnit (JUnit), TestNG, Selenium	in Project WONDER		Yes	Yes	Yes
ztemplates	Java JDK 1.5 or newer	integrates YUI, Google etc. with annotations	Yes	Push, multiple actions per URL	standard Java	use any J2EE ORM framework	Unit Tests		annotation based	Velocity, FreeMarker, JSP, others pluggable		AJAX validation on server and form state update (YUI, JSON)
Google Web Toolkit	Java, Javascript	Yes			Yes	???, no direct data access	JUnit (too early), jsUnit (too difficult), Selenium (best)	No
ZK	Java, ZUML	Yes	Yes		Yes	any J2EE ORM framework
Project	Language	Ajax	MVC framework	MVC Push/Pull	i18n & l10n?	ORM	Testing framework(s)	DB migration framework(s)	Security Framework(s)	Template Framework(s)	Caching Framework(s)	Form Validation Framework(s)

PHP

Project	Language	Ajax	MVC framework	MVC Push/Pull	i18n & l10n?	ORM	Testing framework(s)	DB migration framework(s)	Security Framework(s)	Template Framework(s)	Caching Framework(s)	Form Validation Framework(s)
AgilePHP	PHP	Toolkit-independent	Yes	Push,Pull,Component-based	Yes	Yes	PHPUnit		Yes	Any template engine supported	Yes	Yes
CakePHP	PHP	Prototype/script.aculo.us, jQuery/jQuery UI, MooTools/MooTools more	Active record pattern (CakePHP 1.x), Data Mapper Pattern (CakePHP 2.x)	Push	Yes	Active record pattern (CakePHP 1.x), Data Mapper Pattern (CakePHP 2.x)	Unit Tests, Object Mocking, Fixtures, Code Coverage, Memory Analysis with SimpleTest and XDebug	Yes	ACL-based	Themes, Layouts, Views and Elements	Memcache, Xcache, APC, File	Validation and Security
CodeIgniter	PHP	framework extension	Modified active record pattern	Push	Yes	framework extension	Unit Tests	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Drupal	PHP	jQuery	Yes[1][2]		Yes[3][4]	multiple (CCK, QCubed)[5]	simpletest, devel	Schema API	OG, Node Privacy By Role, ACL, Taxonomy Access List	PHPTemplate, Smarty, XTemplate, others	builtin, memcache, APC	Form API
eZ Components	PHP	No	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Fat-Free	PHP	Library-agnostic	Yes	Push	Yes	Framework global variable		PDO-based	Built-in	Built-in	Symbol table	Yes
FUSE	PHP	Yes	Yes	Push	custom	Yes	SimpleTest		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Fusebox	PHP	Yes	Not mandatory	Push	No, custom				multiple plugins available			via qforms or built in PHP validation
Kohana	PHP		Yes	Push	Yes	framework extension	unit_test module			Yes	File and SQLite Driver based caches	Yes
Midgard	PHP	jQuery	MidCOM	Pull	Yes	Midgard	PHPUnit	datagard	ACL-based	PHP and TAL	memcache	Yes
PEAR	PHP
Qcodo	PHP 5	built-in	QControl	Push	Yes	Code Generation-based		Inherent		QForm and QControl	Yes	Yes
Swiftlet	PHP 5 (>=5.1)	jQuery	Yes	Push	Yes		Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Symfony	PHP 5	Prototype, script.aculo.us, Unobtrusive Ajax with UJS and PJS plugins	Yes	Push	Yes	Propel, Doctrine	Yes	Plugin exists (alpha code, though)	plugin	Yes	Yes	Yes
Zend Framework	PHP 5 (>=5.2.4)	Toolkit-independent	Yes	Push & Pull	Yes	Table and Row data gateway	Unit Tests	Yes	ACL-based	Yes	Yes	Yes
SilverStripe (Sapphire)	PHP 5 (>=5.2)	Prototype, script.aculo.us	Active record pattern	Push & Pull	Yes	Active record pattern	Unit Tests	(Automatic)	incl. OpenID	(object oriented)	Yes	Yes
Project	Language	Ajax	MVC framework	MVC Push/Pull	i18n & l10n?	ORM	Testing framework(s)	DB migration framework(s)	Security Framework(s)	Template Framework(s)	Caching Framework(s)	Form Validation Framework(s)

Python

Project	Language	Ajax	MVC framework	MVC Push/Pull	i18n & l10n?	ORM	Testing framework(s)	DB migration framework(s)	Security Framework(s)	Template Framework(s)	Caching Framework(s)	Form Validation Framework(s)
CherryPy	Python				Yes		No, because unittest and doctest are standard Python modules			CherryTemplate	Yes
Django	Python	Yes	Yes	Push	Yes	Django ORM	Yes	No (plugin exists, might be merged into trunk when more stable and feature complete)	ACL-based	Yes	Yes	Yes
Grok	Python	Yes	Yes	Pull	Yes	OODBMS called ZODB, SQLAlchemy, Storm	Unit Tests, Functional Tests	ZODB Generations	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Pyjamas	Python, Javascript	Yes	Use PureMVC python version (compiled to javascript)		Yes	???, no direct data access		No
Pylons	Python	helpers for Prototype and script.aculo.us	Yes	Push	Yes	SQLObject, SQLAlchemy	via nose			pluggable (mako, genshi, myghty, kid, etc.)	Beaker cache (memory, memcached, file, databases)	preferred formencode
TurboGears	Python	Toolkit-independent, provides support via JSON	Yes	Push	Yes	SQLAlchemy (default), SQLObject	nose	No	Repoze.what & Repoze.who	Genshi, additional plugins available	Support for memcached, and any WSGI compliant system	ToscaWidgets, utilizing FormEncode
web2py	Python	Yes	Yes	Push	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Zope 3	Python	via add-on products, e.g. Plone w/KSS	Yes	Pull	Yes	native OODBMS called ZODB, SQLObject, SQLAlchemy	Unit Tests, Functional Tests	ZODB generations	ACL-based	Yes	Yes	Yes
Zope 2	Python		Yes	Pull	Yes	native OODBMS called ZODB, SQLObject, SQLAlchemy	Unit Tests		ACL-based	Yes	Yes	CMFFormController
Project	Language	Ajax	MVC framework	MVC Push/Pull	i18n & l10n?	ORM	Testing framework(s)	DB migration framework(s)	Security Framework(s)	Template Framework(s)	Caching Framework(s)	Form Validation Framework(s)

Ruby

Project	Ajax	MVC framework	MVC Push/Pull	i18n & l10n?	ORM	Testing framework(s)	DB migration framework(s)	Security Framework(s)	Template Framework(s)	Caching Framework(s)	Form Validation Framework(s)
Camping	No	Yes	Push	No	Active record pattern	via Mosquito	Yes	No	Yes	No	No
Nitro	jQuery	Yes	Push	Yes	Og	RSpec	(automatic)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Ruby on Rails	Prototype, script.aculo.us	ActiveRecord, Action Pack	Push	Localization Plug-in	ActiveRecord	Unit Tests, Functional Tests and Integration Tests	Yes	Plug-in	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sinatra	No	Yes	Push	No	ORM-independent	Rack::test	Yes	No	Yes	through a Rack middleware	No
Project	Ajax	MVC framework	MVC Push/Pull	i18n & l10n?	ORM	Testing framework(s)	DB migration framework(s)	Security Framework(s)	Template Framework(s)	Caching Framework(s)	Form Validation Framework(s)

Others

Project	Language	Ajax	MVC framework	MVC Push/Pull	i18n & l10n?	ORM	Testing framework(s)	DB migration framework(s)	Security Framework(s)	Template Framework(s)	Caching Framework(s)	Form Validation Framework(s)
AIDA/Web	Smalltalk	Prototype, script.aculo.us	Yes			Gemstone/S, GLORP, etc.	SUnit		Yes
Catalyst	Perl	Toolkit-independent (REST & JSON support, specific plugins for Prototype etc.)	Yes	Push in its most common usage	Yes	DBIx::Class, Rose::DB, etc.	[6]		ACL-based, external engines, etc.	Template::Toolkit, HTML::Template, HTML::Mason, etc.	Cache, Memcached, shared memory, etc.	HTML::FormFu, HTML::FormValidator, etc.
Flex	Actionscript, MXML	Not by name but similar technology [7]					FlexUnit
Grails	Groovy	Yes	Active record pattern	Push	Yes	GORM, Hibernate	Unit Test,Integration test,Functional test	multiple plugins(autobase, dbmigrate, etc.)	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Lift	Scala	Yes	Yes	Pull	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Seaside	Smalltalk	Prototype, script.aculo.us, etc.			Yes	GLORP, Gemstone/S, etc.	Unit Tests, SUnit			No, intentionally		Magritte
OpenACS	TCL	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sproutcore	Javascript	Yes
Project	Language	Ajax	MVC framework	MVC Push/Pull	i18n & l10n?	ORM	Testing framework(s)	DB migration framework(s)	Security Framework(s)	Template Framework(s)	Caching Framework(s)	Form Validation Framework(s)

References

• http://www.phpwact.org/php/mvc_frameworks
• http://java-source.net/open-source/web-frameworks
• http://pythonsource.com/open-source/web-frameworks

1. ^ Drupal as an MVC framework
2. ^ MVC vs. PAC
3. ^ [1]
4. ^ [2]
5. ^ QDrupal
6. ^ Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::Testing - Catalyst Tutorial - Part 7: Testing - search.cpan.org
7. ^ URLRequest

See also

• Web application framework
• Java: View Technologies and Frameworks
• PHP frameworks Comparison and Review Site
• PHP frameworks comparison
• List of Common Drupal Modules
• The PHP Frameworks showcase