Google Web Toolkit: GWT Java Ajax Programming

This book is for Java developers who want to create Ajax interfaces using the Google Web Toolkit (GWT). It focuses on useful, practical tasks from the first chapter. The book is aimed at programmers who want to use GWT to create interfaces for their professional web applications. It concentrates on the serious side of Ajax: creating powerful, productive applications for browser platforms. GWT Ajax Programming shows you how to create reliable user interfaces that enhance the user experience.

GWT is an open source Java software development framework that makes writing AJAX applications like Google Maps and Gmail easy for developers who don't speak browser quirks as a second language. Writing dynamic web applications today is a tedious and error-prone process; you spend 90% of your time working around subtle incompatibilities between web browsers and platforms, and JavaScript's lack of modularity makes sharing, testing, and reusing AJAX components difficult and fragile. GWT lets you avoid many of these headaches while offering your users the same dynamic, standards-compliant experience. You write your front end in the Java programming language, and the GWT compiler converts your Java classes to browser-compliant JavaScript and HTML. Plan your ECM installation, implement it, and customize it. Among the many topics covered are:
Set up an elegant GWT development environment in Eclipse
Create, test, debug and deploy GWT applications
Develop custom widgets - examples include a calendar and weather forecast widget
Internationalize your GWT applications
Create complex interfaces using grids, moveable elements, and more
Integrate GWT with Rico, Moo.fx and Script.aculo.us to create even more attractive UIs using JSNI

Each chapter covers a series of practical tasks, showing how to achieve a particular useful result - and then learn how it works so that you can apply your knowledge to your own unique situation. Readers will need experience writing non-trivial applications using Java. Experience with developing web interfaces is useful, but knowledge of JavaScript and DHTML is not required… GWT takes care of that!

Among the many topics covered are:
1 Getting Started
2 Creating a New GWT Project
3 Creating Ajax Services
4 Creating Interactive Forms
5 Responsive Complex Interfaces
6 JSNI and Browser Effects
7 Creating Custom GWT Widgets
8 Unit Tests and Debugging
9 Integrating with Other Frameworks
10 Deployment