How to Choose a Flavor?
Prudence was designed around a strong belief in the power of the JVM coupled with the acknowledgment that the Java language does not suit every development project. Thus, Prudence is available in six mouthwatering flavors. Pick the one that works best for you!
Python (Succulent!)
Python is a powerful object-oriented language with many high-quality core and 3rd party libraries. It has already proven itself as a capable web programming language, and has many excellent web platforms that make good use of its strengths.
Python presents a unique challenge in a scriptlet environment, due to its reliance on indentation. However, because HTML is loose with whitespace, it's possible to force the whole file to adhere to Python's scheme. In fact, as many Python enthusiasts would argue, forcing your code to adhere to Python's indentation requirements can go a long way towards making it more readable and manageable.
In Stickstick, the included example application, we show how to use SQLAlchemy as a data backend for Prudence.
Note: Prudence for Python was built primarily around Jython, but also offers limited support for Jepp if it's installed. For those cases where you need access to a natively-built Python library that won't work on Jython, Jepp lets you run code on the CPython platform. Ruby (Delectable!)
Ruby can do most of what Python can do and more. A true chameleon, it can adapt to many styles of code and programming. If something can be possible, Ruby allows it and supports it. Unlike Python, it has a very loose and forgiving syntax, which is perfect for scriptlets.
Ruby's Rails platform has revolutionized web programming by offering elegant, powerful alternatives to working directly with HTTP. We hope Ruby web programmers will find in Prudence a refreshing alternative to Rails: elegantly embracing HTTP, instead of avoiding it.
Clojure (Scrumptious!)
Prudence's only functional flavor is a Lisp designed from the ground up for high concurrency. If you're serious about multithreading, Clojure is the way to go. Though new, Clojure is based on one of the oldest programming languages around, and enjoys a long, rich tradition of elegant solutions for tough programming challenges.
Clojure embraces the JVM, but also has a growing collection of nifty "contrib" libraries—all included in Prudence—that make the JVM core more lispy. In the included example application, we show how to use Clojure's SQL library to elegantly access a data backend.
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JavaScript (Savory!)
JavaScript (a dialect of ECMAScript) is a sensible choice for "AJAX" and other rich web client applications, because it's the same language used by web browsers and other client platforms. Web developers are already proficient in JavaScript, and can quickly be brought on board to a server-side project. Couple it with JSON and JSON-based document databases, and you're on solid, consistent ground for rapid development. Of all the web programming languages, it's the one most widely deployed and with the most secure future.
It's also an under-appreciated language, and the target of undeserved scorn. Though not as feature-rich as Python or Ruby, JavaScript is still very powerful. Its straightforward closure/prototype mechanisms allow it to support object-orientation, namespaces and other paradigms. Unfortunately, client environments have proven painfully fickle: working with the browser DOM and testing with cross-browser HTML rendering quirks are painful—but these are the not the fault of the language itself. They are also not relevant to server-side development with Prudence. If you've been burned by JavaScript on the client, try it on the server via Prudence: you might be pleasantly surprised.
JavaScript does not have its own core libraries, making it the most minimal Prudence flavor. Instead, it relies on the excellent JVM core.
PHP (Ambrosial!)
PHP is ubiquitous. It's a simple language with the most mature libraries of any web programming language, and programmers are available with years of experience. It's also designed from the ground up as a programming language for the web.
Prudence allows a smooth transition from traditional PHP HTML generation to REST resources. It supports PHP "superglobals" such as $_GET, $_POST, $_COOKIE and $_FILE (but not $_SESSION) to make you feel right at home. It also adds many new features to conventional HTML generation: fine-grained caching, high-performance templating languages, and more.
Note: Prudence PHP was built around the open source edition of Quercus, which does not feature JVM bytecode compilation as is available in the non-free professional edition. Nevertheless, we found the "non-pro" Quercus to be an excellent performer! Groovy (Luscious!)
In some ways, Groovy is the best of this bunch. It has all the flexibility of Ruby, but is designed from the ground up to enhance and extend Java. Java programmers would immediately feel at home, while gaining access to far less restrictive programming paradigms. Groovy makes Java… groovy!
All the other Prudence flavors offer JVM interaction, but Groovy does it best. If you know your project will require a lot of work with Java libraries, Groovy is a terrific—and fun!—choice.
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