Q:

In what order to upgrade skills to: Ajax, Spring MVC, and JSF 2.0?

I am Jr. Java MVC programmer whose current skill set is:

Core Java
MVC
JSP

Corporate directive is to upgrade to:

Spring MVC
AJAX
JSF 2.0

What is the best order in which to learn these new technologies?  What builds on what, and what makes what easier to learn?

A:

"AJAX" should not be in that list. "JSF 2.0 Ajax", "jQuery AJAX" might be, but the technique itself is at a different abstraction level. IMHO you must master it before working at anything else. It should only take some hours, and you'll get a good background.
Afterwards, Spring Core is a must. You can't get into MVC before understanding the core. Spring MVC and JSF 2.0 should come later.
Also consider a JSF library. I'd suggest RichFaces, since it's JSF 2.0 compilant and provides you a nice set of components.

