Journey To Learn Google Web Toolkits

Ever since my first expose to Java Appengine and JSP, I have been very fascinated with the use of Java in web developing. For most of my coding "career", I have been using PHP, HTML, CSS, and MySQL to develop dynamic websites. Even though, I was well aware of JSP and ASP technology but I was always afraid to learn them, mostly due to the learning curve. I know its a bit sad for a Java coder to be afraid of JSP technology. I don't know about others but for me its confusing as heck to go from web developing with PHP to creating dynamic site with JSP. I mean, there is no point of learning JSP when I can create the EXACT same webpage in PHP right? Now, in order to be full flesh web developer, you would need to master Ajax and Javascript. Unfortunately, I have never actually coded with them except for using third party library then made couples of modification here and there. For me at least, saying that you know the language by just changing pre-made codes is a big JOKE.

Fortunately while I was searching around for tutorial, I stumbled across a google technology call Google Web Toolkit which allows you to build Ajax website using pure JAVA. This is like a dream come true for Java programmer like me who doesn't like the learning curve of Ajax.

Little preview about GWT

Google Web Toolkit (GWT) is a development toolkit for building and optimizing complex browser-based applications. Its goal is to enable productive development of high-performance web applications without the developer having to be an expert in browser quirks, XMLHttpRequest, and JavaScript. GWT is used by many products at Google, including Google Wave and the new version of AdWords. It's open source, completely free, and used by thousands of developers around the world.

Download here: http://code.google.com/webtoolkit/

Anyway, to cut the story short, this summer will be my journey to master GWT! I will try to post up my learning progress everyday, including all the cool tips and tricks!

public void onModuleLoad(){
  RootPanel.get().add(new Label("see you guys later :D"));
}