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I'm considering use of GWT on a major in-house web app development project, namely it's major advantage in my eyes is the cross-compilation to Javascript which would (at least theoretically) help my team reduce the size of tech stack by one.

However, having been burnt before (like most devs), I would like to hear from programmers who did actually use it on any problems with GWT which would hamper, or limit, it's use within a certain problem domain.

When do you not recommend using GWT, and why?

Jas
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    To those trying to close this -- is it really subjective and argumentative? It it not a fair question to ask if GWT is suited to some problems better than others? – Kirk Woll Jan 20 '11 at 18:09
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    @Kirk - And to think I actually went an extra mile to make sure that question does not get closed... – Jas Jan 20 '11 at 18:23
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    How is this *not* subjective and argumentative? Is the redeployment time a disadvantage? Yes, if you're using Java server-side. No, if you're using something else. No, if you're using JRebel. Is there a learning curve? Yes, if you were an HTML/CSS/JS web developer before. No, if you were a desktop (Java/C#, even Zend PHP and stuff) programmer... It's a very interesting topic to discuss, but this isn't the place for that. – Igor Klimer Jan 20 '11 at 19:46
  • @Igor, are you sure you are not being, mildly put hypocritical, given the wording of this question here (actually answered by you) : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3180116/to-gwt-or-not-to-gwt/3180600#3180600 – Jas Jan 20 '11 at 19:54
  • Those were the old days, I was young and full of hope for the world ;) j/k, j/k.. Look at the question there - Otto asked for advice for a specific situation - he gave some background info about himself (he's a Java developer), he wants hard facts about the performance of GWT-generated JS vs jQuery/etc. You ask a general question without giving out any info about your team (what experience do they have? Web development? Java?) - without such info you might get opinions that don't take your situation into consideration and they might actually cause more harm than good. – Igor Klimer Jan 20 '11 at 20:06
  • Don't use it when [the pitfalls](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/99866/biggest-gwt-pitfalls) are too restrictive for you. – Jla Jan 20 '11 at 20:13
  • @Igor - I already mentioned all that is important - but of course you need to read my question carefully though (not just to skim through). – Jas Jan 20 '11 at 20:58
  • Unless I'm missing something, you haven't written anything about your project, apart from the fact that it's going to be big. No info on your team/yourself, your experience (I'm guessing "web app development" but anything more specific?). You do however want opinions from any programmer that used GWT what they had had problems with (again, without stating the context of your project) - the answers can *only* be subjective and argumentative. A former Java dev will say GWT is great and moving to MVP was a cinch. A former jQuery dev will complain about the lack of selectors, etc... – Igor Klimer Jan 20 '11 at 23:32
  • PS: Don't take this as some sort of attack - I'm just trying to make this question actually beneficial to others that have a similar, though at the moment unknown, experience/background as you. – Igor Klimer Jan 20 '11 at 23:40

2 Answers2

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I didn't read all the comments in the link that Jamshid provided, so this might have been addressed there...

If you want to build something closer to a traditional web app (i.e., web 1.0) that is centered around the concept of pages and forms being submitted, then GWT will be a hindrance. However, if you want to build something with a richer interface that's more like a desktop app (i.e., web 2.0), then I've found GWT to be nifty for a couple reasons:

  • I can write and test most of my code in Java, which I know much better than HTML and Javascript.
  • I don't have to spend much time worrying about cross-browser support.

That said, GWT isn't perfect. Trying to integrate with third-party Javascript libraries is hardly pain free, and getting it to work how I wanted with maven and eclipse gave me a few headaches. If you do go with GWT, I highly recommend watching this presentation - Google Web Toolkit Architecture: Best Practices For Architecting Your GWT App.

Kevin K
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Tony
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Ive been using GWT since 2011. As any technology, it has its pro and cons. Main benefit, by far, is the fact that if you have a team with strong java skills (even maybe developers that worked with Swing) then GWT is a smooth step. It will be more familiar and probably you will get things done faster (at first) with it in comparisson with other technologies. Now, you said that it is a "major in-house webapp", so take in consideration that compilation time is a BIG ISSUE in GWT. See this GWT report from Vaadin https://vaadin.com/gwt-report-2012-portlet/download/1150559483/Future-of-GWT-Report-2012.pdf So, I believe that only in the described scenario using GWT would make sense.

juancancela
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