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I develop webapps with vaadin and flow for some time now (together with spring boot) and just stumbled across hilla, a new vaadin 'addon' or project... (www.hilla.dev).

I know that flow and vaadin use typescript for some things but I never needed to dig deeper into this meta-layer between my java backend and the generated html/js/css things...

So I ask myself what's the use of hilla to make my life easier? Or is hilla better suited for people coming from javascript & typescript to vaadin instead of the other way around?

General Grievance
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Stefan Möller
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2 Answers2

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Hilla is the new name of vaadin-fusion.

In short:

Flow= Java in Backend and Frontend JS generated at runtime

Hilla = Java in the Backend + Typescript Frontend

So if you love typescript and css Hilla is good for you. If you are a java Fan (as myself) Vaadin Flow is the way to go (Or stay)

https://vaadin.com/blog/renaming-fusion

André Schild
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    Didn't realize that fusion is now hilla... Thanks for the hint :-) – Stefan Möller Mar 14 '22 at 08:42
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    Maybe one clarification to this for others: the "generated from Java code" could be read as "runtime JS generation", which it is not. Flow just uses static client-server components / widgets in dynamic way. – eeq Mar 22 '22 at 06:49
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In hilla you use vaadin as a bridge. That means you can annotate endpoints and vaadin generate a ts class that give you a easy way to access the backend. It also generate for any type that are used at the endpoints a ts object, including constraints. With the Binder object you have a comfortable solution to validate the input data.

Customizing existing webcomponentsor write a new one is with hilla way more easy than with pure vaadin.

Another benefit is, that hilla don't need for every user interaction a request to the backend.

Hilla also allows you to build a PWA with offline support.

ladida
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