End of life for Apache Struts 1

Apache Struts 1.x will no longer be supported by its developers. The web development technology for implementing the MVC (model-view-controller) paradigm became an Apache project about 13 years ago. Its developer, Craig McClanahan, who worked for Sun Microsystems at the time, handed it over to the open source organisation. For some time, Struts served as the de facto standard for Java web development based on open source technology.

With the appearance of JavaServer Faces (JSF) as the new standard Java EE framework, however, Struts 1.x faded into the background; in 2007, its developers answered the JSF challenge with the first final version of the WebWork-based Struts2, which was a major departure from original Struts and not compatible with it.

Although the Apache Software Foundation's announcement only formalises what was already general practice – there hasn't been a new version of Struts 1 since 2008, when Struts 1.3.10 was released – there are still numerous web applications out there that were developed with the earlier series. If they haven't already, companies should look to how they can switch to other web frameworks, such as Struts2, Spring Web MVC, Grails or Stripes, since there will be no further security updates for Struts 1, effective immediately.

(ehe)