A gear is a portal component that’s been developed and deployed for the ATG Portal platform. Here are some of the principal differences between gears and portlets:
Gears | Portlets |
|---|---|
Organized as a separate J2EE Web application | Similar, but not a Web application |
Can be completely written as JSPs | Must include one Java class, the Portlet class |
Can use | May not use |
If you are designing a new portal component, you need to decide whether to develop it as a portlet or a gear. If you develop it as a gear, you may be able to take advantage of ServletFilters and other features that are not available to portlets. However, if you develop it as a portlet, your new component will be portable and able to run (after processing) on other portal platforms, as well on the ATG Portal.
