Do I need (Spring) MVC if I have Javascript/CXF?

Question

I am developing a Java web services application that is (mostly) to be used by other SOA clients. Currently I am planning on using CXF to publish my various web services & methods using SOAP/XML.

I am now being asked to investigate a thin client web-application for this tool. I have been looking into Javascript libraries such as ExtJS and Dojo -- and they seem really straightforward. Given that this is a web application and not a web site, I really don't think I'll be creating very many static HTML pages -- maybe even just one. Mostly I plan on using an XMLHttpRequest object to hit the web services I already have and take the results and modify the DOM.

However, I have never created a browser-based UI before and in the context of a nearly 100% Javascript application I am trying to figure what role, if any, a server side MVC framwork such as Spring MVC will buy me. Is it needed for this? Whats it good for?

Answer 1

If you use the CXF JavaScript client generator and go for a single page JS application, I don't see what a Java MVC framework will give you (apart from extra complexity).

Answer 2

Spring MVC is a web-based module based on servlets and JSPs. If you're writing a JavaScript UI that calls on services directly, I'd say that you don't need Spring MVC.