Clogging up the Web

For a while now I have been researching application frameworks. Not just web application frameworks, but all kinds of application frameworks. I am keen to develop a model for the evaluation of application frameworks and a set of metrics to fit into my model.

When I say application frameworks, examples are Rails (Ruby), Spring (Java), Struts (Java Servlets / JSP), .NET (C#, VB, ASP) and Fusebox (ColdFusion and PHP).

I have searched high and low for any papers, articles, books, you name it, on a model for the evaluation and selection of a framework. I found some examples where the desirable features of frameworks were listed and applied to a framework, but this is inadequate. You need a way to shortlist frameworks, using a simple evaluation model, and then a way of coming to a decision from your shortlist, using a more advanced model and metrics.

So, in the absence of any semblance of such evaluation models for frameworks, I embarked on a research project that first describes what frameworks are, advises when to use them, the core features of frameworks categorised into the pillars of my evaluation model, and goes onto evaluate frameworks including Rails, Spring, Struts and .NET. It’s an ambitious project, but one I feel is important to bridge a gap. The research is aimed squarely at IT managers, technical architects and project managers. Phase 1 of my research will be complete by early May and I hope to continue the research in the Autumn as part of a Masters or Phd in Computer Science.
Application frameworks have been around for years but have only been generating headlines in the last 2 or 3 years. With hundreds of frameworks and more being created everyday, someone is going to have to come up with a way of choosing the one that suits your project. That someone I hope will be me.

Wish me luck. I have a lot of late nights ahead of me…

Technorati Tags: application frameworks, Rails, Ruby on Rails, Spring Framework, .NET, Struts