Object-Graph Navigation Language (OGNL), created by OGNL Technology, is an open-source Expression Language (EL)

Expression Language

Expression Language is a scripting language which allows access to Java components through JSP. Since JSP 2.0, it has been used inside JSP tags to separate Java code from JSP, and to allow easier access to Java components ....

 for Java

Java (programming language)

Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...

, which, while using simpler expressions than the full range of those supported by the Java language, allows getting and setting properties (through defined setProperty and getProperty methods, found in JavaBeans), and execution of methods of Java classes. It also allows for simpler array manipulation.

It is aimed to be used in Java EE applications with taglibs as expression language.

The OpenSymphony

OpenSymphony

OpenSymphony was an Open Source computer software project dedicated to providing enterprise class Java EE components. OpenSymphony shut down sometime around 2009-2010, but some of the subprojects are now maintained elsewhere...

 is now defunct, OGNL is developed now as a part of the Apache Commons.

There is also a .NET port of OGNL.

Projects using OGNL

• WebWork
  WebWork
  WebWork was a Java-based web application framework developed by OpenSymphony that merged into the current Struts2 framework. It was developed with the specific intention of improving developer productivity and code simplicity...
  
   and its successor Struts2
• Tapestry
  Tapestry (programming)
  Apache Tapestry is an open-source component-oriented Java web application framework to implement applications in accordance with the model-view-controller architectural pattern. Tapestry was created by Howard Lewis Ship independently, and was adopted by the Apache Software Foundation as a top-level...
  
  
• Spring Web Flow
  Spring Web Flow
  Spring Web Flow is the sub-project of the Spring Framework that focuses on providing the infrastructure for building and running rich web applications...
  
  
• Apache Click
  Apache Click
  Apache Click is a modern page and component oriented web application framework for the Java language and is built on top of the Java Servlet API....
  
  
• NReco (.NET integration framework for lightweight MDD)
• op4j (op4j-ognl extension) - Java fluent interface implementation.
• MyBatis
  MyBatis
  MyBatis is a persistence framework available for Java and .NET that couples objects with stored procedures or SQL statements using an XML descriptor or annotations.MyBatis is free software that is distributed under the Apache License 2.0....
  
   - SQL mapper framework
• The Thymeleaf
  Thymeleaf
  Thymeleaf is a Java XML/XHTML/HTML5 template engine that can work both in web and non-web environments. It is better suited for serving XHTML/HTML5 at the view layer of MVC-based web applications, but it can process any XML file even in offline environments.In web applications Thymeleaf aims to be...
  
   - A Java XML/XHTML/HTML5 template engine
• Unitils - Modular Testing framework for Java

External links

• OGNL Homepage (Apache)
• OOgnl WOOgnl - OGNL implementation for WebObjects
  WebObjects
  WebObjects was a Java web application server from Apple Inc., and a web application framework that ran on the server. It was available at no additional cost. Its hallmark features were its object-orientation, database connectivity, and prototyping tools...
  
  
• WebWork (using OGNL)
• op4j (using OGNL)
• Thymeleaf (using OGNL)