GWT Basics: AJAX Programming with Java

By Michael J. Ross
2008-03-10


GWT to the Rescue

Google's answer to these difficulties, is the Google Web Toolkit (GWT), an open source software development framework that allows the programmer to write Java code, which then gets translated into AJAX code. More specifically, the GWT compiler converts the Java classes into browser-compliant HTML and JavaScript code.

The key idea is that GWT is intended to make AJAX programming much easier — especially for programmers already adept with Java.

In this tutorial, we will learn where to obtain GWT, how to install it, and how to get a demo application up and running. Due to space limitations, we will not be able to get into the details of all the capabilities offered by GWT, but we will see how to get started, and where the interested reader can go from there.

To begin, visit the main GWT page.

Click on the link to "Download Google Web Toolkit (GWT)", which takes you to the download page.

Click the link to download the latest version of GWT, which is, as of this writing, version 1.4. Older versions are available, but there is no advantage or reason to use one of them. GWT is available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X. In this tutorial, we will be using it in a Windows environment. However, the steps outlined below are applicable for Linux and Mac OS X.

Tutorial Pages:
» Introduction
» AJAX Overview
» GWT to the Rescue
» Installing GWT
» Running Sample Applications
» Resources

Related Tutorials: » Getting Started with AJAX in jQuery » AJAX Accessibility for Websites » AJAX and PHP Form Processing » The obligatory 'My Ajax Tutorial' Post » A Designer's Guide to Prototyping Ajax » Ajax Wireframing Approaches