The Velocity developers are pleased to make the first alpha release of VelocityTools 2.0 available for download and testing.
This is a milestone release marking the completion of most major development in the Tools 2.x branch. Significant new features include very flexible, composable toolbox configuration (via either java, xml, and/or properties), lazy-loading/initialization of tools, the VelocityViewTag for embedding Velocity within JSP, an assortment of new and improved tools, and more.
This should be useable as a drop in replacement for Tools 1.3, with a few exceptions where things already deprecated in 1.x have been removed. This also is the first Tools release to require both Velocity 1.5+ and JDK 1.5+.
Early adopters may consider the new tool management and configuration facilities to be quite stable. At this point, documentation is limited to javadoc and the example apps, which have been updated to demonstrate the new tools, the VelocityViewTag, and configuration. We are also more than happy to answer questions on the mailing lists. More information on the changes between Tools 1.x and 2.x may be found here.
The Velocity developers are very interested in all feedback regarding Tools 2.0, especially regarding backwards compatibility with apps designed for Tools 1.3 or earlier. We aim to enable a smooth, incremental transition for developers and their applications.
Downloads of Tools 2.0-alpha1 are available here.