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.

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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.