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> When I think deeply about it though, I'm not sure that any of it is better than what I experienced on a pretty big GWT project back in 2010. Yes, everyone was

> When I think deeply about it though, I'm not sure that any of it is better than what I experienced on a pretty big GWT project back in 2010. Yes, everyone was horrified that I was compiling Java to JavaScript. But everything just worked. I used GWT in 2008 - 2010 and I would 1000% agree with you. I'm currently working in a large team (100 ish Devs) for a large project written in 95% JS so I have something legit to compare with my previous experience. GWT goes like this: Maven + MVP + EventBus + minimum DI + JUnit trumps the fiasco I'm dealing with JavaScript ecosystems nowadays. It's sad that GWT didn't win mindshare due to a few reasons: - Bad Rap: Java in 2006-2010 was getting a lot of heat from Rais, Google Wave was a flop (it was the most-talked GWT project) - Back-end Dev rarely wants to touch Front-End development and Java developers are largely Back-end Dev - Front-end Dev hates "enterprisey" so they refused Java and its ecosystems - In general, front-end community didn't have a solid grasp of good software practices hence perhaps they don't quite understand the benefits of GWT (feels like I'm throwing blanketed statement but bear with me). GWT was ahead (and probably still!) of everything: - Dealing with Sprites and Resources a LOT easier than anything in front-end stuff we have to deal these days - i18n framework built-in (have you ever seen a JS solution for i18n? doubtful) - Pruning dead code! - Static Analysis via Java - Good Solid unit-testing framework again via Java (no QUnit vs Jasmine vs Mocha) - That debugger .... very sexy! - SASS? LESS? Nah... GWT has a good solution for that...(ClientBundle) - Sane and Stable Date and Number formatter Hm.... I'm re-thinking of using GWT again for my side project....

rpeden 11y ago
Oh man, I forgot about sprites and resources! Those were so nice to deal with. I hear that the current dev builds of GWT support Java 8 syntax, and last I checked I saw quite a few Google developers still working on to to add some much improved JavaScript interop. So although it hasn't gained huge mindshare, it at least looks like it is far from dead. Checking it out for a side project sounds like a really good idea.
- edwinnathaniel 11y ago
  Not too long ago Google use GWT for INBOX which brings familar face back to the community, notably Cromwell. Maybe that's the reason behind some contribution from Google.
TheGuyWhoCodes 11y ago
GWT was amazing at the start, I loved it, and I agree with all your points, some of these are things JS frameworks are just starting to reinvent. But then the project got big and it was the worst coding experience. The compile phase was taking way too long (5m), to the point that we had to buy SSDs for everyone, this was back in 2010. And integrating 3rd party JS was bad, just like JNI. We were missing so much of what was offered with open source JS.
- edwinnathaniel 11y ago
  Those are definitely the issues that drove me nuts too. Although if the community grew to the level of Spring Framework, I doubt integrating with 3rd party would be such a big issue.

rpeden 11y ago

Oh man, I forgot about sprites and resources! Those were so nice to deal with. I hear that the current dev builds of GWT support Java 8 syntax, and last I checked I saw quite a few Google developers still working on to to add some much improved JavaScript interop. So although it hasn't gained huge mindshare, it at least looks like it is far from dead. Checking it out for a side project sounds like a really good idea.

edwinnathaniel 11y ago
Not too long ago Google use GWT for INBOX which brings familar face back to the community, notably Cromwell. Maybe that's the reason behind some contribution from Google.

TheGuyWhoCodes 11y ago

GWT was amazing at the start, I loved it, and I agree with all your points, some of these are things JS frameworks are just starting to reinvent. But then the project got big and it was the worst coding experience. The compile phase was taking way too long (5m), to the point that we had to buy SSDs for everyone, this was back in 2010. And integrating 3rd party JS was bad, just like JNI. We were missing so much of what was offered with open source JS.

edwinnathaniel 11y ago
Those are definitely the issues that drove me nuts too. Although if the community grew to the level of Spring Framework, I doubt integrating with 3rd party would be such a big issue.