Skill set benefits
Can be used by non-java programmers
Ideal for database programmers
Beginners can gradually become java experts
Productivity at every level of the skill set
Servlet Tier Support
Extensive MVC model support
Business classes called in response to URLs
Asynchronous support for business classes
Program flow defined in declaratively in properties files
Program flow can be determined by exceptions
plug-able authorization
plug-able authentication
plug-able session management
Translation of request to business beans
Supports multiple transformations on data
Can configure between internal/external redirects
GUI support
JSP transformations
XSL Transformations
Aspire Proprietary tag transformation
Plug-able transformations
Compatible with tools like FrontPage, DreamWeaver
Non-interference with GUI development
Complete adherence to MVC
Separation of layout from logic
Parallel Development of GUI and Database
Data Access layer
Hierarchical data sets
Can call multiple business procedures/beans
Can call single/multiple beans asynchronously
Can call EJBs/Stored procedures declaratively
Declaratively call SOAP data sources
Data accessors for file systems
Built in import/export support for databases
Declarative data access
Data access on the server side
Automatic resource management
Connection pools
Plug-able data access handlers
RDBMS support
Optimized for rdbms
No java coding necessary for RDBMS
Data accessors for Oralce Stored procs
Data accessors for MSSQL Server stored procs
Transactional
Transactional Bridges for EJBs
Transactional support in the servlet tier
XML Support
xml output
xml to relational and relational to xml
XML based transforms
Messaging
Pluggable message handlers
email/fax handlers provided
XML based transforms
SOAP Support (in alpha)
Built in SOAP Services
Auto convert http apps to SOAP apps
Robust Application Services
Backward compatibility to run previous releases
Configuration services
Logging services
Factory services
Extensibility through java