What is SiteMesh?
SiteMesh is a lightweight and flexible Java web application framework that applies the Gang of Four decorator pattern to allow a clean separation of content from presentation.
Imagine working with only the simple content of your website and having the complex presentation code applied (decorated) just before delivery to the browser.
- SiteMesh is easy to learn. 5 minutes to setup, and 10 minutes to start being useful.
- SiteMesh is integrates quickly starting with just 4 files.
- At the same time, SiteMesh has many advanced features and works with popular frameworks such as Spring and Struts.
How Does it Work?
The technology is based on the servlet filters
- SiteMesh intercepts requests to any static or dynamically generated HTML page requested through the web-server, processes the content and then merges it with one or more decorators to build the final result.
- SiteMesh can also be used compose large pages of smaller pages and layouts.
- SiteMesh can be used in Java based web-applications, or applied to content as an offline job.
For a good overview, see Mike Cannon-Brookes' PowerPoint presented at the Vegas Server Side Symposium.
Download
Download SiteMesh 2.4.2, a stable, rock solid and Production proven release or check out SiteMesh 3 Alpha.