Effective Web Development with the Google Web Toolkit

Overview

The Google Web Toolkit is a powerful framework for developing Rich Internet Applications (RIA) that need to communicate with a server to provide a responsive web application. The library contains a large set of standard graphical elements ('widgets'), and there is also the capability to create and re-use your own customised ones. Advanced features, such as Internationalisation are supported. The framework allows JUnit testing.

The framework works by generating JavaScript code directly from server-side Java, and inserting this into the returned HTML pages, (via a JS optimising process). It is possible in GWT to interact with this process, and develop with JavaScript directly.

The course is designed for web developers who intend to use the Google Web Toolkit to write Rich Internet Applications with a Java-based framework.

Prerequisites

• Delegates must have some Java Programming skills
• Awareness of Web technologies (e.g. HTML) would be highly beneficial

Delegates will learn how to

• Understand the Google Web Toolkit architecture
• Write, deploy and test GWT applications
• Use supplied GWT widgets and create new custom widgets
• Use GWT for rich internet applications, invoking AJAX

Course Outline.

Module 1: Introduction to Google Web Toolkit

• The need for a framework
• Cross-browser issues
• Google Web Toolkit and other frameworks
• GWT Support for AJAX
• Overview of GWT Widgets
• Advanced features: using JavaScript, Internationalisation, customisation
• The GWT compiler and runtime library
• Introduction to using UiBuilder

Module 2: Writing a GWT Application

• Development lifecycle
• Running in hosted mode vs. going live in web mode
• Project structure and deployment files
• Linking from the HTML: ID's and JavaScript tags
• Modules
• The GWT History Mechanism

Module 3: GWT Widgets

• Simple HTML widgets: Button, RadioButton, CheckBox, TextBox, TextArea
• Complex HTML widgets: ListBox, MenuBar, DialogBox, Table
• Compound components: DatePicker, TabBar, Tree, SuggestBox
• Layout components: Varieties of Panels

Module 4: Communicating with the Server using AJAX

• RPC and AJAX
• GWT Architecture for RPC
• Writing a service implementation
• Client-side code
• Handling complex types
• Deployment, Testing and Debugging

Module 5: Customising Widgets

• Compisite classes
• Using the browser DOM
• Browser events and handlers
• CSS, Themes and styles
• Packaging and deployment

Module 6: Interacting with JavaScript

• The JavaScript compiler
• JavaScript Native Interface - writing JavaScript directly in Java code
• Calling Java from JavaScript
• Passing Objects
• JavaScript overlay types

Module 7: Testing GWT Applications

• Exception handling and GWT Logging
• JUnit
• How to use JUnit in GWT: Test Cases and Test Suites
• Asynchronous testing
• Metrics and Benchmarks
• Other types of web testing: Firebug, Selenium

Module 8: Internationalisation and Accessibility Features

• Locales and Property bundles
• String Internationalisation: static and dynamic
• Accessibility: what is it?
• Accessibility conformance levels

Module 9: Further GWT APIs

• Versions of GWT
• GWT Extension libraries
• Google APIs for GWT: Maps, Search, Gears, Gadgets, Visualisation