AEM Traditional Technology Stack
CMS:
AEM Traditional
Overview
Section titled “Overview”Classic AEM (on-prem, Adobe Managed Services, or AEM as a Cloud Service running the traditional OSGi/Sling model), chosen for deep customization, complex authoring workflows, or existing AEM investments.
Stack by layer
Section titled “Stack by layer”| Layer | Technology / Tool | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Backend/Platform | Java | Core development language |
| Backend/Platform | Apache Sling | Web framework AEM is built on |
| Backend/Platform | OSGi (Apache Felix) | Modular component/service framework |
| Backend/Platform | JCR / Apache Oak | Content repository |
| Backend/Platform | Maven | Build & dependency management |
| Backend/Platform | HTL (Sightly) | Templating language |
| Backend/Platform | Sling Models | Java backing objects for HTL |
| Backend/Platform | AEM Core Components | Standard reusable component library |
| Frontend | HTL templating + clientlibs | Default rendering approach |
| Frontend | React / Angular (optional) | Legacy SPA Editor integrations |
| Testing & QA | JUnit, Mockito | Unit testing |
| Testing & QA | AEM Mocks (wcm.io) | AEM-specific unit test mocking |
| CI/CD & tooling | Adobe Cloud Manager | AEMaaCS and AMS pipelines |
| CI/CD & tooling | Jenkins / Azure DevOps | On-prem and legacy deployments |
| Infrastructure & hosting | AEM as a Cloud Service (AEMaaCS) | Adobe-managed cloud offering |
| Infrastructure & hosting | Adobe Managed Services (AMS) | Adobe-managed dedicated/on-prem offering |
| Infrastructure & hosting | Dispatcher | Caching/security layer in front of AEM |
Content authoring/modeling tooling is intentionally excluded — it’s the
authoring team’s remit, not the development team’s. See also
shared-stack.md for cross-cutting tools (version
control, generic CI/CD, testing, design handoff) that apply here too.