Google Web Toolkit for Ajax

Google Web Toolkit for Ajax, 9780596510220 (0596510225), O'Reilly, 2007

The Google Web Toolkit (GWT) is a nifty framework that Java programmers can use to create Ajax applications. The GWT allows you to create an Ajax application in your favorite IDE, such as IntelliJ IDEA or Eclipse, using paradigms and mechanisms similar to programming a Java Swing application. After you code the application in Java, the GWT's tools generate the JavaScript code the application needs.

You can also use typical Java project tools such as JUnit and Ant when creating GWT applications. The GWT is a free download, and you can freely distribute the client- and server-side code you create with the framework. This shortcut explains how to get started with the GWT, and then demonstrates how to create a simple Ajax application.

The term Ajax is all the rage in the software world. The acronym originally stood for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML, though now it refers to a broad range of techniques that may not, for example, include XML.

Beyond the technical jargon, Ajax represents an architecture for the software that is designed to be used with any web browser, but that includes an interface with the responsive feel of a desktop application. This means that, for example, a grid component such as a spreadsheet that appears in the web page responds instantly to the user's manipulation of the data, without the time delays or visual disruptions caused by the page "refreshing" or being rebuilt with new HTTP requests. Google's Gmail and Calendar, and Yahoo! Maps, are three examples of typical Ajax applications.

Ajax works by communicating with the application's middle and/or database tiers using a client-side JavaScript object. This object is called XMLHttpRequest (XHR). The web page is composed of and programmed with common, standard technologiesnamely, HTML/XHTML, cascading style sheets (CSS), JavaScript, and the Document Object Model API that lies behind each web page's structure. The data that the page exchanges with its server tiers, such as a product database, can be plain text, XML, or a format called JavaScript Object Notation (JSON).

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