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Is the Google Web Toolkit Right For You?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the sure-why-not dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The recently released Google Web Toolkit (GWT) is a comprehensive set of APIs and tools that lets you create dynamic Web applications almost entirely in Java code. However, GWT is something of an all-or-nothing approach, targeted at a relatively small niche in Web application development market. This article shows you what GWT can do and will help you decide if it's the best tool to use for your web development."

6 of 163 comments (clear)

  1. Google takes more ground... by utopianfiat · · Score: 5, Funny

    I, for one, welcome our weather-reporting overlords.

    --
    +5, Truth
  2. Does it have an "I'm feeling lucky" feature? by purpledinoz · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does it have a "I'm feeling lucky" feature, where it will deploy your project for the first time without bugs?

  3. Accessibility? by metamatic · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Also, what's the state of the art in screen readers? Do they have sufficient JavaScript support? (*)

    If not, using GWT for a corporate web site is just a lawsuit waiting to happen.

    (*) This is not an idle question, I'm sincerely interested in real answers and pointers to software.

    --
    GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
    1. Re:Accessibility? by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 5, Informative

      If I had mod points today, I'd boost you up. If you go by the ADA provisions*, I think you need to provide enough content in plain old HTML code and text (Javascript doesn't count) so that all the content is available inline and enough links, text boxes and other items (also in plain old HTML code) so that someone can navigate your entire site without any Javascript.

      *Section 508 Standards for Electronic and Information Technology;
      SubSection 1194

  4. Why not learn the tools instead by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Hmm, all the examples in the article look pretty much the same than they were written in JavaScript, but in a more complex way. Why not actually learn the trade. Its easier to fix problems if you're working with the actual code that runs in the browser, not the "meta code".

    1. Re:Why not learn the tools instead by richdun · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Almost modded up, but hopefully someone else will take care of it for me.

      Expanding on parent's point, a lot of problems I see in my short time in web development is that too many people are getting into it not by learning basics (like how to build a well-formed XHTML/HTML document with DTD and such, or how to make an image swap sources onmouseover or whatever) but by diving straight into frameworks. I understand the want (and need, in some case) to make programming of all flavors more non-programmer friendly, but without that base foundation we'll end up with a bunch of forums full of "how do i make it do this" questions that are elementary in nature and, even worse, a bunch of web apps that are riddled with problems in security, UI, or other. There's no harm in asking questions, but when everyone is asking the same question that is answered in chapter 2 of any good HTML book, that's a lot of wasted time.

      I'm not saying everyone needs to learn how to build Slashcode from the ground up using only Notepad, Mountain Dew, and a bag of Doritos, but learning the basics first then going to a framework to speed up your work on complex projects would seem like a better option. It will almost always be cheaper and faster to write simple things in the base language, but so many are so fixed on frameworks they wouldn't know how to do that.