Extending Java Web Applications with plugins

Question

I have this web application that has grown to an unmanageable mess.

I want to split it into a common \"framework\" part (that still includes web stuff like pages and im

Answer 1

Take a look at Java Portlets - http://developers.sun.com/portalserver/reference/techart/jsr168/ - in a nutshell, a specification that allows interoperability between what are otherwise self-contained j2ee web applications

Edit I forgot to mention that Portlets are pretty much framework agnostic - so you can use Spring for the parent application, and individual developers can use whatever they want on their Portlets.