Hi HN,

I’m the author of Oorian, a Java web application framework I’ve been building and using in production for several years.

I created it because I wanted to build modern, real-time web applications entirely in Java, without constantly switching mental models between Java, HTML templates, JavaScript, frontend frameworks, and build pipelines — even for relatively simple pages.

With Oorian:

* Every HTML element is represented as a first-class Java object * User interfaces are constructed programmatically in Java * Event handling is type-safe Java → Java (no JavaScript glue required) * Real-time updates are built in (server-push / WebSocket-based) * There’s no mandatory frontend build step, transpilation, or template language

If you’ve used Swing or JavaFX before, the programming model will feel familiar — except the output is a responsive web UI rendered in the browser.

Oorian is intentionally opinionated in its default workflow: it encourages building UIs programmatically in Java rather than starting with HTML templates and JavaScript. HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are still available when you want them — the framework just doesn’t require them.

It’s not trying to replace React or compete directly with client-heavy JS frameworks. It’s aimed at developers who prefer UI-as-code, strong typing, object-oriented composition, and keeping most application logic on the server.

I’ve put up:

* Live demos * Code examples * Documentation (Coming Soon)

Site: https://oorian.com

I’m genuinely interested in feedback — especially from people who’ve built UI frameworks, used Vaadin, Wicket, ZK, GWT, or have strong opinions about server-driven vs client-driven UIs.

Happy to answer any technical questions.

— Marvin

Submissions

Show HN: Oorian – Build real-time web applications in Pure Java

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