JSF uses a Model-View-Controller basic architecture:

• Model components are JSF managed beans and other Java objects that they access to.
• View components are specified in XHTML pages. They access Model data using Expression Language (EL) expressions.
• The JSF framework acts as Controller, processing action and value change events. Its controller activities are guided by EL expressions in the XHTML pages.

Within this basic architecture, the JSF framework provides the following services:

• Data Conversion
  • Change textual web form data into numbers, dates, and other data types.
• Validation and Error Handling
  • Detects missing or incorrect input.
  • Displays appropriate error messages.
• String Management and Internationalization
  • Resource bundles can be used to give web pages different text depending on locale.
• Custom Components
  • Lets application programmers develop their own components when JSF components are not enough.
• AJAX Support
  • Gives application programmers use of tools to reduce the number of screens by moving some processing to the browser.