Request for suggestion to develop GWT based Web 2.0 application

Question

I did Web 2.0 applications with Flex. This time, I wish to learn and develop with GWT.

Inspired by JBPM console application, I'm thinking about using gwt-mosiac for user interface(better suggestions are most welcome and I'm thankful).

For example, one of the stacks in Flex is [Flex+Parlsey] - [BlazeDS-Spring/JPA] - MySql. With GWT ?

Kindly suggest the stack or system architecture based on your experience to develop Web 2.0 application with GWT.

Answer 1

I'd suggest not to use third party frameworks if they aren't really necessary. Been there, done that. Libraries come up and dissapear, making your app stick to old GWT versions.

In my case pure GWT with EJB+JPA plays pretty well, but don't try to use your domain objects in GWT client code. It's tempting and possible but makes your app hard to maintain. It's much better to map your domain objects to GUI objects even if it requires some mapping code.

Regarding @Yekmer comparison to jQuery I think it's completly different pair of shoes. GWT power lies in Java. jQuery is superb but writing complex apps would be a nightmare in my opinion.

Answer 2

I have used GWT with a lot of server-side libraries, I have used GWT-RPC mechanism with servlets, RIFE, Grails, I find the easiest way is sending Json and parsing it in client side.

Although GWT is a very advanced tool, I do not use it anymore, as you can not develop applications faster than Jquery. I have not used Spring Roo but it is the most advanced and nicely configured GWT framework. You can look at it as Spring develops it http://www.springsource.org/roo and you are familiar with Spring.

Answer 3

I use EJB+JPA on the server side and GWT + Ext GWT (aka GXT) for the UI. It has some downsides (as almost everything), but is well polished, and has a great selection of ready to use components.

Of course it all depends of what are you trying to achieve. If it's supposed to be a "normal" web page, consider jquery or plain GWT. If it's supposed to be RIA (lots of forms, complex interface, etc.) - an additional ui library might be useful. In my opinion: the more code is on the client side, the more you need GWT ;)