Pick the web framework you think is cool
Ever since I started adding additional web frameworks into AppFuse, people have asked me "which framework should I use?" I've often told them "use what you know." If you have in-house knowledge of Struts, use it. I thought this was good advice because I believed that existing knowledge leads to greater productivity.
Lately, I've started to change my philosophy. I'm starting to think it's more important to use the web framework you're passionate about. The one you want to learn more about. After reading Kathy Sierra's "Does it really matter if your tool is cool?", it seems this is a good idea. She writes:
Coolness (or just perceived coolness, it really doesn't matter) is linked to passion. The cooler you perceive your tools to be, the more passionate you are about those tools. And passion, while it might lead to the "everything is a nail" syndrome, has an extraordinary amount of value!
Obviously there's quality of life... a life with passion is certainly more fun than one without. And the more passion, the greater the chances that a person has what psychologists label optimal experiences. And the more optimal experiences one has, the more likely one is to describe life as being "happy". So, passion = optimal experiences = happiness. And research says happy people are generally more productive. Certainly they're more spirited and fun to be around...
So I guess passion leads to greater productivity, not existing knowledge. So which web framework do you think is cool? Which one are you passionate about?
If I had to choose based on my passionate choice, and the one that I think is the coolest, I'd have to go with Tapestry or possibly JSF (JSF would be a lot cooler if it let me put my JSPs in the WEB-INF directory instead of in the root). These are the frameworks I want to learn more about. 6 months from now? Maybe Laszlo or JDNC.