Creating a dynamic web application

Consider a data registration application (register events, inspections etc.); how would one go about building it? You could define n-number of data fields, such as Date_Of_Event, Event_Description etc. OR one could build a dynamic application where there is metadata of some sort that defines what tables/columns are available.

My question is then: Are there any good examples of such implementations? Perhaps there开发者_JAVA技巧 are frameworks that can assist me in creating such an application?

FYI: I have been a developer on such an application previously and so I have a fair bit of knownledge on how it can be done, but I am looking at better ways of doing this.

It all depends on how much dynamic is that. If the number of dynamic data fields is very big, then, of course, you may create or use some framework, but I would really consider looking into definition of more precise data model if it is possible. Generic approach is nice when you need some flexibilty, but if you need a lot of customization, then this dynamic field flexbility can bring a lot of painful maintenance comparing to a system with more strict data model.

EDIT: If you want to build some application based on some meta data model e.g. UML diagram, then you can look into some MDA tools like AndroMDA.