Chapter 1. Introduction

1.1. Libraries

This book is a guide to the various components available in the RichFaces 4.0 framework. It includes descriptions of the role of the components, details on how best to use them, coded examples of their use, and basic references of their properties and attributes.

For full in-depth references for all component classes and properties, refer to the API Reference, JS Documentation, and VDL Documentation available from the RichFaces website.

For further examples for each component, refer to the RichFaces Showcase at http://richfaces-showcase.appspot.com/.

1.1. Libraries

The RichFaces framework is made up of two tag libraries: the a4j library and the rich library.

a4j library: The a4j tag library provides core Ajax and utility components.
rich library: The rich tag library provides ready-made, self-contained, rich user-interface components. These components have built-in Ajax support. By default, the components don't require additional configuration in order to send requests or update, but can also be customized by plugging in utility behaviors.