The last version of GWT that I used was 2.1 and I believe SuperDevMode was there already (open in any browser, hookup with this SWT/Swing UI that relays back to

The last version of GWT that I used was 2.1 and I believe SuperDevMode was there already (open in any browser, hookup with this SWT/Swing UI that relays back to your Eclipse IDE). Back then it was very very clunky and slow to the point that if you have large rich UI it may even crash. Learning curve of the GWT API itself was okay, but the setup ceremony is not (preparing IDE, build, mavenizing, the whole end-to-end from start to finish). I don't know if this can be improved since this may be inherent culture from the Java world. But like anything in this world: you get some, you lose some (e.g.: no silver bullet). At this time, it's a matter of preferences and specific to each individual situation. If you have a well-defined project, GWT may suit you well. But if you need something that change quickly and frequently, preparing GWT may be yet-another-too-technical stumbling block.