---
layout: post
title: ! 'Sacrilege: a rather lousy rant on Java for the web'
tags: [ development, loadacrap ]
type: post
published: true
---

Let me start out saying I'm glad I never had to make web apps in Java.
Boostrapping the crap out of a Maven + Struts archetype is insane. I honestly
don't know what to feel for Java programmers.

It's been an hour and a half since I've started reading the [ Apache Struts 2
Web Application Development book
](http://www.amazon.com/Apache-Struts-Web-Application-Development/dp/1847193390/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328904973&sr=8-1)
and I'm going nuts. _I've dealt with more XML in this hour and a half than most
of the time in my degree._

Story told short:

* I've installed Netbeans and an Apache Tomcat 7 server.
* I've created a new Maven Web application.
* I've copied a struts routing example, along with the respective action POJO.
* Tried to reach the URL; no luck.
* Looked up for a web.xml example, in order to correctly load Struts.
* Project won't deploy. FML.

**At an hour and a half, reading and typing, I could have done so much more in
Rails or Sinatra. Sorry.**

I don't care what people think about me comparing Java to Ruby at such an early
stage in _trying to learn_. But hey, it's 2012, software ought to be easier to
accomplish. Why does it have to be so difficult to understand how a simple
controller is executed? Why is the Java way so convoluted?

I'll update this post when I can create a Struts action properly, perhaps with
an interceptor. If I can make it to apply some TDD along the way, I pat myself
in the back. Until then, I stay with the attitude.