Thursday, September 16, 2010

To be or not to be GWT?

With the current project that I’m working on, I had to work out some GWT stuff to get specific UI level requirements done. In fact I’m not 100% convinced the way it was done that started pinching me to explore more about it.

This is the first time I touched GWT in real live project development. Being java developer for a long time, I have never come across this much of complexity at the UI level especially when you have been dealing with latest technologies and tools. Basically this system has several layers of wrappers before it really feed with back end calls. Also it contains an in-house written configurable UI Binder that uses xml file to configure the UI. According to my understanding this was done to make reusable and scalable UI level components. But I’m not sure if a software house should invest this much of resources to make front end reusable and scalable as these front end tools can be easily replaced by a new technology that is yet to be arrived in near future. As of now, with GWT 2.0 there is a UI Binder feature which allows you to configure your UI in xml files. In fact I found out that smart-client offers you same kind of configurable UI. So all effort they put to make UI configurable is in vain with this kind of releases. Another disadvantage I see is the expertise required to develop the front end. Front end development supposed to be something different so that it requires different mindset with creativity. Obviously GWT development requires experienced java developers, not the creative designers :). So are we doing Swing development for the web? I really feel someone should have considered writing a tool to convert swing applications in to GWT type of front end applications which could have added more value, considering the power it brings to the web applications. There are number of cool features that you can enjoy with GWT based front end, providing an end to the all time headache "browser compatibility".

In my readings, I came across Flex which has similar kind of UI dynamic binding scripts but something easier to deal with. There are so many pros and cons with both GWT and Flex. There is a good comparison here
- More readings.
- Loading speed comparison

4 comments:

  1. I agree, Charith. GWT is great and I've had some great fun with it, but the inability for graphic designers to help with the font-end is a deal killer for me.

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  2. I think that UiBinder of GWT is very good at bridging the gap between designers and developers. It's true that designers need to have some very basic HTML and web development knowledge, but I guess that can be assumed. In the worst case they will have somebody to help them with that. If you have a specific problem feel free to drop me an email I'll be glad to try to help you. I personally use GWT intensively and even contribute to it.

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  3. Thanks for your comments. I shall KIT with you. :)

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