I'm working on a port of the django templating language to Java. I think I have the basics down on creating the required code to get Spring MVC to work with my library. Implementing ViewResolver is the big one, correct? I'd probably extend AbstractTemplateViewResolver for ease.

I do have a few questions:

What is required to be a 'proper' template language to use in Spring MVC? The big ones I see are bind and form support, and anything in the jstl/jsp like 'forEach' and 'url'. Is there anything else?

Are there any test cases, specifications, etc...to follow for form generation? Is there anything re-usable for the form generation (java bean in, html form out) or would I have to rip out the internal code for either the form namespace, the velocity form support, or the freemarker form support? Or of course write it myself and hope I cover all the cases.

What is the demand/interest in alternatives to JSP/JSTL, anyway? I get a lot of mixed input on this.