In association with heise online

05 September 2012, 15:35

Apache Wicket bounces to a 6

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • submit to slashdot
  • StumbleUpon
  • submit to reddit

Wicket logo With today's announcement, the Apache Wicket project has jumped from version 1.5.8 to version 6.0 for the latest release of its web framework for Java. The version number change is due to a switch to semantic versioning and because there are changes to the Wicket API. One of the headline changes is that Wicket now requires Java 6 at a minimum, so updaters may have to look at upgrading their Java runtimes.

Wicket's JavaScript library has been rewritten using jQuery, making it easier to integrate jQuery plugins, but also to make more advanced use of AJAX by setting AjaxRequestAttributes. The rearchitecting also means browser events are used in the JavaScript code, which cleans up the markup needed in Wicket pages. The changes to the JavaScript side are described as a "reinvigorated implementation of our client side API" by the project's Vice President, Martijn Dashorst.

Some of the changes are simple future proofing. For example, the IDataProvider class now uses a long rather than an int for parameters to better line up with the Java Persistence API (JPA). Others correct usability issues: error dialogs used to respond with the invalid input quoted in the error message which didn't really tell the user where the problem was; now, they will display with the label of the field mentioned.

Some changes help with managing project complexity and reusability – resources in Wicket can now declare dependencies and packaged resources will use a minimised version by default in deployment mode. Some shuffling of packages has allowed Wicket to be made more OSGi-package-compatible and therefore easier to deploy in an OSGi environment. There are also two experimental WebSocket implementations, one using the Atmosphere framework for when containers don't support native WebSockets, and another that does use native WebSockets.

These and other changes are covered in the migration guide for Wicket 6, including the renamed classes and methods, cleanups and minor changes. API documentation is also available. Wicket 6 is available for download from a number of the Apache project's mirrors and is, as expected, licensed under the Apache Licence 2.0.

(djwm)

Print Version | Send by email | Permalink: http://h-online.com/-1699707
 


  • July's Community Calendar





The H Open

The H Security

The H Developer

The H Internet Toolkit