Java Background

• Java is a computer programming language and software application originally released by Sun Microsystems in 1995. The Java platform powers many of the online utilities, games, multimedia and business applications. According to the Sun Microsystems' website, more than 850-million personal computers worldwide run Java, and there are billions of other devices running Java, including televisions and mobile devices.
  
  

JSP

• A JavaServer Page is a Java technology created to simplify the process website developers use to design pages on websites that display dynamically created content. JSP pages encapsulate more complicated coding languages like HTML and XML. JSP is basically designed to separate the code and logic of a Web page from its design and display.
  
  

JSF

• A JavaServer Face allows online application developers to create rich online applications that are more complex to develop using HTML. JSF allows developers to generate user interfaces for Java Web applications by arranging reusable components in a page. JSF is like a toolbox that contains tools reused repeatedly on a webpage to capture events made by the user when interacting with these components. Applications developed in JSF are event-driven, and are usually embedded on JSP pages.
  
  

Comparison

• JSP can be looked at as a canvas and JSF is the paint which is used to create the portrait. JSF may use JSP as a template but provides the actual components that bring the page to life. JSF can handle various view technologies such as AJAX, a development platform that operates in the same capacity as JSP.