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AppFuse is an open-source project for developing Java EE web applications. It allows developers to get started quickly and easily using Java open-source technologies like Spring framework, Hibernate and Struts. It was originally created by Matt Raible. He originally developed it to eliminate the "ramp up" time he found when building new web applications for customers.

At its core, AppFuse is a project skeleton, similar to the one that's created by your IDE when you click through a "new web project" wizard. When you create a project with AppFuse, it prompts you for the open source frameworks you'd like to use, then it creates your project. It uses Ant to drive testing, code generation, compilation and deployment. It provides your directory/package structure, as well as the libraries you'll need to develop a Java-based web application.

Unlike most "new project" wizards, AppFuse-created projects contain a number of classes and files from the very beginning. These files are used to implement features, but they also serve as examples for you when developing your application. By using AppFuse to start new projects, it's possible to eliminate the usual first week or two of development time. You don't have to worry about configuring open source frameworks together, because that's already done for you. Your project is pre-configured to talk to a database, deploy in an appserver, and allow you to login. There's no need for you to implement security features, because they're already integrated.

When AppFuse was first developed, it only supported Struts and Hibernate. Today, it supports Hibernate or iBATIS as persistence frameworks. For the web framework, you can use JSF, Spring MVC, Struts, Tapestry or WebWork.

AppFuse comes out of the box with features that many applications need, including the following:

• Authentication and Authorization
• User Management
• Remember Me (saving your login information so you don't have to login every time)
• Password Reminder
• Signup/Registration
• SSL Switching
• E-Mail
• URL Rewriting
• Skinnability
• Page Decoration
• Templated Layout
• File Upload

This out-of-the-box functionality is one of the main features in AppFuse that separates it from the other "CRUD Generation" frameworks, including Ruby on Rails, Trails, and Grails. The aforementioned framework, as well as AppFuse, allow you to create master/detail pages from database tables or existing model objects.

• Apache Struts
• Spring Framework
• Java EE

• AppFuse Project
• AppFuse Demos
• AppFuse Tutorials

• Article: Seven Simple Reasons to use AppFuse
• Article: AppFuse: Start Your J2EE Web Apps