impala - Simple, dynamic modularity for Spring-based applications

Project Information

Activity Medium
Project feeds
Code license
Apache License 2.0
Labels
Java, Spring, Modules, Web, JEE, J2EE, Jetty

Members

philzoio...@gmail.com

Featured

Downloads

Wiki pages

Links

Blogs
The Impala Blog
External links
Snapshot build
Groups
Impala User Group

Impala is a dynamic modular productivity framework for Java-based web applications, based on the Spring Framework. With a focus on simplicity, Impala radically transforms application development using Spring and all the usual related technologies.

With it's powerful dynamic reloading capability, Impala dramatically reduces build/deploy/test cycles, allowing you to spend more time coding and less time waiting for your application to reload.

Unlike other Spring modularity projects, Impala does not depend on any third party runtime environments. Instead, it offers offers a simple, powerful and cohesive environment for truly modular application development and deployment that just works out of the box.

Getting Started

What makes Impala different?

you can dynamically reload the parts of your application that have changed
you can dynamically select the parts you want to deploy
you can structure your application in a modular way
you can kickstart your project in a few easy steps
you can still do it in Java
you can use the powerful but still familiar Spring programming model
you can fine tune your Spring config painlessly, even for complex apps
you can free yourself from application context XML hell!
you can do it all on for web apps using Spring MVC
or you can use your favourite Java web framework
you can develop in an interactive, TDD-friendly way
you can write full integration test suites that execute in seconds, not minutes
you can build your application without having to write your own build scripts
you can pull your dependencies directly from a Maven repository
but otherwise you don't actually need to use Maven, although you can if you want to!
you can develop your application entirely within your IDE
but you don't need to install any IDE plugins!

News

18 June 2011: Impala 1.0.1 released. See full release announcement.
12 May 2010: Impala 1.0 released. See full release announcement.
25 April 2010: Impala 1.0 RC4 released. See full release announcement.
17 April 2010: Impala features in Opensource Jumpstart London.
13 March 2010: Impala 1.0 RC3 released. See full release announcement.
4 January 2010: Impala 1.0 RC2 released. See full release announcement.
21 December, 2009: Interview on JavaLobby's OSGi Zone. See full interview.
27 October, 2009: Talk at TSS Java Symposium, Prague. See presentation slides.
24 September, 2009: Impala 1.0 RC1 released. See full release announcement.
17 May, 2009: Impala 1.0M6 released. See full release announcement.
5 March, 2009: New Impala Extensions project created.
9 February, 2009: Impala 1.0M5 released. See full release announcement.
17 December, 2008: Impala 1.0M4 released. See full release announcement.
12 December, 2008, Talk at Devoxx, Antwerp, Belgium. See presentation.
2 December, 2008: Talk on Impala, OSGi and class loaders at Java Web User Group, London. See presentation.
13 October, 2008: Impala 1.0M3 released. See full release announcement.
10 September, 2008: Talk on Impala at Spring User Group UK. See more details and podcast.
13 July, 2008: Impala 1.0M2 released. See issues covered in this release.

Overview

Impala allows you to divide a large Spring-based application into a hierarchy of modules. These modules can be dynamically added, updated or removed.

Because Impala-based applications are genuinely modular, they are much easier to maintain than vanilla Spring applications.

Impala radically boosts productivity of Spring application development. This is enabled by the dynamic module loading capability, the seamless integration with Eclipse, and the efficient mechanisms for running Spring integration tests, both individually and within suites. When writing applications you only rarely need to restart your JVM, allowing your application changes to be reflected almost instantly. No long restart waits required!

Impala also features a build system, based on ANT, and dependency management capabilities, which you can optionally use.

For up to date news on development of Impala, see the project blog.

Impala is developed under the Apache Licence, Version 2.