When should one use h:link instead of h:commandLink?

Question

If I have a JSF page that I want to link to where I don't need to communicate anything to that page and don't need to perform any validation on the page I'm linking from, should I always use an h:link?

Do I lose anything by not using a h:commandLink (with immediate="true" or execute="@this")?

Is there any difference between h:link and h:commandLink in this scenario?

possible duplicate of [When should I use h:outputLink instead of h:commandLink?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4317684/when-should-i-use-houtputlink-instead-of-hcommandlink) — BalusC, Jun 26 '12 at 11:59

Matt Handy · Accepted Answer · 2012-06-26T18:59:22.543

16

The h:link will fire a full GET request. Only JSF lifecycle phases 1 (restore view) and 6 (render response) will be invoked. No conversion, no validation, no action.

Thus immediate="true" and execute="@this" won't work (they are not available for h:link at all).

Use h:link for pure page to page navigation and h:commandLink (which fires a POST request) if input data needs to be processed on the server.

Addendum:

As per BalusC's comment lifecycle phases 2 to 5 are not skipped for a GET request if the target page contains f:viewParams.

edited Jun 26 '12 at 18:59

answered Jun 26 '12 at 12:01

Matt Handy

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In the original question, the references to immediate and execute in were for commandLink, not h:link – BestPractices Jun 26 '12 at 12:47
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The first paragraph is not entirely correct. The other phases will be invoked when the target page has ``s. – BalusC Jun 26 '12 at 18:46

When should one use h:link instead of h:commandLink?

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