Introduction
There are many web frameworks available at the moment - new ones pop up very regularly. It takes quite a bit of effort to figure out what the essence of a new framework is.
Biologists are faced with a similar problem when they discover a new exotic animal. But they have a valuable tool to their disposal. They have a taxonomy of different kinds of animals. When a new animal is discovered, it is classified according to this taxonomy. This act of classification already attaches a lot of known knowledge about the new animal - a big aid in getting to grips with "yet another animal".
This wiki is an attempt at creating a similar tool for people who are interested in studying and comparing web frameworks.
The map
There are a number of possible entry points by which you can explore this information (or add to it):
WebApplicationBackground has been added as a basic introduction to web applications and web frameworks as defined here, just in order to put things into perspective.
New visitors may want to orientate themselves by seeing HowTheMapWorks.
It is also useful to understand the unique perspective from which the map is done (described under the heading of ReferenceModel).
If you are familiar with all those topics, you may jump straight to individual parts of the map:
The ListOfDiscussions;
ViewTaxonomy; or
Useful related information
A start has also been made towards a ListOfWebFrameworks out there, stating where each one fits in the map. Please help by making sure your favourite web framework is listed there and mapped correctly.
At the time of this writing, the academic literature is scarce when it comes to web frameworks - particularly those that are in heavy use around the world. It also seems that very few popular web framework designers found their work on academic study. To aid in bridging this gap, please add academic material you know about in the ListOfAcademicPapers.
Participating
What is here now is by no means complete. Nor is it necessarily correct. But it is a start. To realistically continue with this work, your help is needed. Please join in and participate in growing this wiki. And if you do, please familiarise yourself with the OrganisationOfThisWiki, so that the collaboration can happen in a sensible way!
A good place to start participating is perhaps to make sure that your framework (or your favourite framework) is listed in the ListOfWebFrameworks and that it is categorised correctly according to the taxonomies.
Credits
In order to get the wiki going, it was seeded with information from a Masters thesis from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Pretoria. This seeding information is the result of a study and analysis of 80 web framework and related projects. (Download the dissertation)