Hamlets (previously known as IBM Servlet-based Content Creation Framework) is an open source system for generating dynamic web-pages developed by René Pawlitzek at IBM. A Hamlet is a servlet extension that reads XHTML template files containing presentation using SAX (the Simple API for XML) and dynamically adds content on the fly to those places in the template which are marked with special tags and IDs using a small set of callback functions. A template compiler can be used to accelerate Hamlets.

Hamlets provide an easy-to-use, easy-to-understand, lightweight, small-footprint, servlet-based content creation framework that facilitates the development of Web-based applications. The Hamlets framework not only supports but also enforces the complete separation of content and presentation. It is the result of a radical software simplification effort.

Version	:	Hamlets 1.6	Hamlets 1.7 NEW!
License	:	BSD	BSD
Programming Language	:	Java 5.0	Java 6.0
Lines of source code	:	1511	1613
Number of source files	:	12	13
Source code size	:	43'070 bytes	45'941 bytes
Binary code size	:	23'981 bytes (hamlet-1.6.jar)	25'509 bytes (hamlet-1.7.jar)
Learning time	:	20-30 minutes	20-30 minutes

Click here to see an example demonstrating the use of Hamlets. Click here to see how the same example can also be implemented with Hamlets v1.7.

Click here to visit the download section.

The Hamlets framework depends on log4j for logging and Xerces (which contains SAX) for XML parsing.

The following publications are currently available:

Starting Hamlets [ PDF ]

This article explains how to write your first web-based application in Java using Eclipse. 45 pages.

Introducing Hamlets [ PDF ]

This article introduces the basic ideas behind Hamlets and describes the very first implementation. 15 pages.

Programming Hamlets [ PDF ]

This tutorial illustrates various aspects of Hamlet programming as it provides a number of practical Hamlet examples. 103 pages.

Compiling Hamlets [ PDF ]

This article introduces a method of compiling Hamlet templates to improve application performance. 22 pages.

Implementing Hamlets [ PDF ]

This article explains the current implementation of the Hamlets framework. 20 pages.

Embedding Hamlets [ PDF ]

This article shows how to write web-based user interfaces for embedded devices running OSGi. 29 pages.

Reflecting on Hamlets [ PDF ]

This article demonstrates how Java reflection can be used to provide dynamic content for a template. 19 pages.

Check out the Help Forum in case you get stuck.

• "As a senior web developer, Hamlets are the perfect solution for allowing me to develop web interfaces completely separate from Java code. Hamlets have made my web development with Java much easier in numerous situations and I am very grateful." -- B.R.
• "Well, there's Wicket and Click, and then there was an article over at IBM devworks about some tiny (about 60k jar) web framework running directly on servlets, and to be honest, I didn't see much missing in there." -- www.reddit.com
• "I think reading about stuff like this is great, and I do agree with the author that if you are not very careful you can easily build or use a system that is too resource intensive. The only thing I don't like about the solution the author presents is that it is not XSL. ... But I still say to the author....Nice job." -- www.osnews.com
• "... IBM (yes, I said IBM) has a RAD html+markup framework called Hamlets I was able to grasp in about 30mins." -- www.codezilla.net
• "The author's a "simpler-is-better" fanatic, so of course I'm immediately drawn toward the tech." -- www.codezilla.net
• "... I wonder why it took so many years to develop this simple device." -- www.delicious.com
• "Congratulations for the creation of this great framework." -- L.S.
• "Die Idee der Hamlets finde ich sehr hübsch, besonders weil es eine sehr leichtgewichtige und schlanke Art ist, die Geschäftslogik von der Präsentation zu trennen." -- M.W.