JSP Limitations

I have previously posted about the limitation of jsps where they can't be read out of the classpath.  In that scenario, I had a library that wanted to have a simple user interface.  I have a new scenario where I am using a tiny servlet container.  I am writing server application that has a user interface.  This server application is small enough that it technically can run on an Android device.  The catch is jsps won't run on Android.  This is because the JSP spec says jsp files are translated into java files, then compiled into class files.  Android can't run class files.  Android doesn't support the JSP spec.

On top of that, you still can't easily unit/integration test webapps that are implemented in jsps.  Although some people have been able to run some sort of automated test case (using tools like Selenium), they usually start up a Tomcat instance as part of the build process.  Now you have to worry about configuring Tomcat as part of your build process.  You can also kiss mocking goodbye.  Now, you are connecting to a real database.

These types of limitations can be pretty damaging in this day and age.  The combination of HTML, custom JSP tags and JSLT inside of a JSP is really helpful when it comes to developing an HTML webpage.  It just isn't as portable and testable as it used to be.  The definition of "portable" has increased and developers are doing more automated testing.

I have tried a few times to invent technology that tries to solve problems like these.  I have never come up with anything that does it in a very good way, though.  Maybe the next generation of UI technology will solve these problems.