If you’re working as a Software Developer or a programmer in business Intelligence or Reporting (MIS) team, you know very well that Reporting modules are the backbone of your application. The success of the application solely depends on upon the accuracy and presentation of the reports.
In future, the end user may demand the addition of some more reports with extra data elements. Keeping this in mind, you must always choose a flexible and robust reporting library which will allow you to customize the application on the basis of user requirements.
As we are discussing Reporting Tools, let’s look at the best Java reporting tools and libraries that have the ability to generate any advanced reports without much headache and coding. (I’ve personally used three of them in my projects). So here is the list-
5 Best Java Reporting Tools and Libraries
Jasper:- Jasper is probably the most widely used Open Source Java Reporting Tool or Library till date. With Jasper, you can generate reports in formats like HTML, CSV, JPG, XML, Excel, RTF and many other formats.
With the availability of world class Visual Editors like IReport, customizing the layout of your reports is very easy. Jasper can be easily Integrated with Netbeans through IReports, Eclipse through Jasper Soft Studio, etc. If you don’t want to code the Frame for Viewing Reports, Jasper Viewer is available for you. With such powerful features, Jasper is undoubtedly one of the best tools in this context.
BIRT:- Yet another free Java Reporting tool, Business Intelligence and Reporting tool (BIRT) is one of the top Eclipse projects maintained and developed by the Eclipse Software Foundation.
BIRT can be easily integrated with the Eclipse IDE. You can generate reports in formats like HTML, PDF, Word and Excel through BIRT quickly. BIRT can fetch data from Data Sources like Databases, Web Services, etc. If you’re using Eclipse IDE, BIRT is the right option for you.
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Pentaho:- You may not have heard of this name before, but believe me, Pentaho is one of the most powerful tools that you can make use of. Pentaho uses XML templates to generate Reports in formats like PDF, Excel, HTML, CSV, etc It can be easily integrated with Eclipse.
Dynamic Reports: – This tools has been built on the top of the Jasper Reports hence making it as a powerful reporting tool. It doesn’t require the use of Visual Designers like IReports. As it is built on top of Jasper, you can generate reports in all the formats that Jasper Supports. DR’s ease of use makes it in our list of top tools.
Report Mills: – Allows you to create dynamic reports easily. It can fetch data from Datasource like Databases, Plain Old Java Objects, Beans and it can generate Reports in formats like PDF, HTML, Flash, Excel, etc. With such useful features, this utility deserved to be on this list.
