Google web toolkit (GWT) and JAVA EE - the synergy for modern web application development

Abstract

The Web has become ubiquitous and a very important platform for applications. After the dot-com bubble burst in 2001, the way applications were developed changed. Developers started using the web standards to implement astonishing products that are light with rich and responsive user interfaces close to those of desktops. Using JavaScript and XMLHttpRequest the browser can communicate with the server to update just a portion of the web without refreshing the whole page. These and other technologies gave birth to the term Ajax. Modern Web Applications comprises of these client side technologies and server side technologies to give a very rich and robust web application. However, JavaScript which is a major technology for developing Ajax applications is not type safe and creating and debugging such applications become very tedious. Google Web Toolkit (GWT) was developed to address this problem with good support for Software Engineering. Ajax applications are developed in Java similar to Swing applications and GWT compiles it (Java) into JavaScript which can run on the browser. Java EE has gained popularity and is a technology of choice for developing server side functionalities. The Java EE container manages transactions, security, concurrency and other functions so that the developer concentrates on the business logic of his application. GWT Remote Procedures Call (RPC) which is based on Java EE Servlet allows seamless integration between the client and Java EE codes on the server. CASE Application Management System, as a case study for this project, is developed using these two technologies. It shows how they integrate seamlessly for developing Modern Web Applications.