GWT in Action

Easy Ajax with the Google Web Toolkit
Robert Hanson and Adam Tacy
  • May 2007
  • ISBN 9781933988238
  • 632 pages

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NEWER EDITION AVAILABLE

GWT in Action, Second Edition is now available. An eBook of this older edition is included at no additional cost when you buy the revised edition!


The Web is experiencing a new growth with an emphasis on rich, web-based applications. These applications can be difficult to build because they rely on JavaScript, which lacks the sophisticated object-oriented structures and static typing of Java, they are tricky to debug, and they require you to manage numerous browser inconsistencies.

The Google Web Toolkit (GWT) is a new technology from Google that automatically translates Java into JavaScript, making Ajax applications easier to code and deploy. GWT in Action is a comprehensive tutorial for Java developers interested in building the next generation of rich, web-based applications. This book was written by Robert Hanson, creator of the popular GWT Widget Library, and Adam Tacy, a major contributor to the GWT Widget Library.

about the technology

In May of 2006 Google released the Google Web Toolkit. GWT enables developers to create Ajax applications in Java. With GWT, you can build your applications using a real object-oriented language and take advantage of Java tools like Eclipse that are already available. Instead of trying to bring tool support to Ajax, Google brought Ajax to a place where the tools already existed.

about the book

GWT in Action shows you how to take advantage of these exciting new tools. This clearly-written book is packed with hands-on GWT examples. You'll absorb the GWT philosophy as you build your first working GWT application.

The book begins by exploring the main features of GWT, including

  • Compiling Java to JavaScript, the magic that really defines GWT
  • Building client-side components
  • Convenient JUnit integration and testing
  • Interacting with JavaScript and existing JavaScript libraries
  • Internationalization

You'll also see how GWT compares to other toolkits.

GWT in Action shows you how to set up your development environment, use and create widgets, communicate with the server, and much more. Readers will follow an example running throughout the book and quickly master the basics of GWT: widgets, panels, and event handling. The book covers the full development cycle, from setting up your development environment, to building the application, then deploying it to the web server. The entire core GWT library is discussed, with details and examples on how it can be extended.

You'll cover:

  • Testing, debugging, and deploying GWT Applications
  • Communicating with GWT-RPC
  • Examining client-side RPC architecture
  • Alternative RPC tools: HTTPRequest, RequestBuilder, and FormPanel
  • Achieving interoperability in GWT with JavaScript Object Notation (JSON)
  • Making your GWT application flexible and supportable

GWT helps you make the most of Ajax in your web applications and GWT in Action helps you get more out of GWT.

what's inside

  • Comprehensive GWT tutorial
  • Build a full-scale GWT application
  • Interacting with the server using GWT-RPC, JSON, and other tools
  • Building, testing, and deploying GWT applications

about the authors

Robert Hanson is a US-based senior Internet engineer and creator of the popular open source GWT Widget Library. Robert also maintains a blog at http://roberthanson.blogspot.com where he talks about GWT and other topics relating to the industry.

Adam Tacy is a consultant working for WM- Data in the Nordics and a contributor to the GWT Widget Library project.

... impressive quality and thoroughness. Wonderful!

Bernard Farrell, Software Architect, Kronos Inc.

How to 'think in GWT'. The code: concise, efficient, thorough, and plentiful.

Scott Stirling, Senior Consultant at USi and AT&T Company

Perfect for Java developers struggling with JavaScript.

Carlo Gottiglieri, Java Developer, Sytel-Reply

A real nitty-gritty tutorial on the rich features of GWT.

Andrew Grothe, COO Eliptic Webwise, Inc.