Introduction and Working of Struts Web Framework (original) (raw)

Last Updated : 10 Jun, 2026

Apache Struts is an open-source web application framework developed by the Apache Software Foundation for building Java-based web applications. It is based on the MVC (Model-View-Controller) architecture, which separates business logic, presentation logic, and user input handling into different components.

• Integrates well with Java EE technologies such as Servlets and JSP.
• Provides centralized request processing through a controller servlet.
• Supports flexible and extensible application design.

Struts Framework Architecture

Shows how a client request flows through the Controller, Model, and View components in the Struts MVC framework.

The diagram illustrates how a request flows through the Struts MVC framework.

Components of Struts Framework

The main components of the Struts framework are:

1. Action Class

An Action class processes user requests and executes business logic.

Java `

public class LoginAction extends Action {

public ActionForward execute(
        ActionMapping mapping,
        ActionForm form,
        HttpServletRequest request,
        HttpServletResponse response)
        throws Exception {

    return mapping.findForward("success");
}

}

`

2. ActionForm

ActionForm is used to collect data entered by the user.

Java `

public class LoginForm extends ActionForm {

private String username;
private String password;

public String getUsername() {
    return username;
}

public void setUsername(String username) {
    this.username = username;
}

}

`

3. JSP Pages

JSP pages are used to display information and collect user input.

Java `

<html:form action="/login"> Username: <html:text property="username"/>

Password:
<html:password property="password"/>

<html:submit value="Login"/>

`

4. Configuration File

The struts-config.xml file defines mappings between requests and action classes.

Java `

    <forward
        name="success"
        path="/success.jsp"/>
</action>

`

Working of Struts Framework

The working of Struts can be understood through the following steps:

1. HTTP Request from Client

• A user performs an action such as clicking a link or submitting a form.
• This generates an HTTP Request.

2. Controller (Servlet)

• The Controller acts as the central request handler.
• It receives all incoming requests from clients.

3. struts-config.xml

• This configuration file contains action mappings and navigation rules.
• It tells the controller which action class should handle a particular request.

4. Dispatch to Business Logic

• Based on the configuration, the controller dispatches the request to the appropriate Business Logic component.
• Business logic performs the required operations such as database access, calculations, or validations.

5. Update Model (Application State)

• After processing, the business logic updates the Model.
• The model represents the application's data and current state.

6. Forward to View (JSP)

• The controller forwards the processed request to a JSP View.
• The view retrieves data from the model using tags and JavaBeans.

7. Generate HTTP Response

• The JSP page generates the final HTML output.
• The response is sent back to the client browser as an HTTP Response.

Advantages of Struts Framework

• **Follows MVC Architecture: Separates business logic, presentation, and control logic, making applications easier to maintain.
• **Improves Code Reusability: Components such as Action classes and JSP pages can be reused across the application.
• **Easy Maintenance: Changes in one layer have minimal impact on other layers.
• **Built-in Form Validation: Provides validation mechanisms to reduce manual coding.
• **Supports Internationalization (i18n): Makes it easier to develop multilingual applications.
• **Centralized Request Handling: All requests are managed through a single controller servlet.
• **Rich Tag Libraries: Offers custom JSP tags that simplify UI development.