Bruce Johnson/Dan Peterson Presentation on Productivity

Dietrich Kappe, Tuesday, December 4, 2007 @ 2:34 pm

Two main points really in this presentation:

1. GWT introduces better software engineering tools and methods to Ajax apps
2. JavaScript is the debil. Funky language around nil, falst, etc., memory leaks, performance problems, etc.

Even though I have been a strong proponent of frameworks like GWT that homogenize the development environment and reduce the developers cognitive stress, I almost feel like sticking up for the pure JavaScript/Ajax straw man. If you look at all of the JavaScript library and framework goodness out there (JsUnit, Ext, etc.), some of the productivity arguments go by the wayside.

Anyhow, here is the essence of the argument for the productivity benefits of GWT versus pure JavaScript development:

A few keys to the developer productivity (defined as Productivity = (functionality * reliability)/time to deliver):

• Leverage existing Java tools for coding and debugging
• Rapid compile/reload cycle
• JUnit integration
• Code reuse through Jars
• Some OO design patterns require strongly type languages
• Javadoc support
• Compile time errors

Environment factors that will make GWT more efficient than JavaScript based Ajax:

• i18n support
• bookmarking/back button
• benchmarking using JUnit
• Much more efficient to prototype code that can be turned into production code.
• Share code between client and server. (Leaky business logic, anyone?)
• Reuse existing JavaScript (and you can't do this in JavaScript?)
• Automatic improvement of code size and performance .

BTW, many of the developers at the conference seem to be Java geeks who resent their JavaScript brethren and don't want to get left behind when the Ajax bus rolls down the corporate highway. They also applauded "hating the browser with all my heart."

One question from the audience on the dynamic loading thing got a "antipattern, dynamic loading doesn't produce the best user experience" answer from Bruce. That doesn't address the whole issue around loading multiple GWT apps into a single page issue, though. Another question on which apps at Google use GWT: Google Checkout, Google Mashup editor, and Adwords uses GWT for regional targeting.

OK, to cap it all off, some Bruce Johnson quotes:

"A year ago I said you'll never call it Gwit. Over my dead body. And now a year later I'm calling it Gwit and I can't stop. So, sorry about that."

"We focused on making developing Ajax applications as easy as possible for the Java developer."

"In adding Web 2.0 features, you can turn from a Java shop into an Ajax show before you know it."

"We look at GWT as a way of bringing software engineering practices to the world of Ajax."

"We count milliseconds with everything that we build." (Agile principle: measure everything that is important to you in a feedback loop, including performance. DJK)

"JavaScript, being a dynamically typed language, does not and cannot have tools that will help you refactor. It's just not safe."

"You just go be productive. We'll make sure that the stuff in GWT is fast, and the compiler will make sure that what you write is fast."

"We don't focus on wizzy widgets. We focus on the things that make building real applications for real users easier."

"If someone finds writing imperitive Java code too distasteful, then GWT is not for them."

Technorati Tags: ajax, gwt

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Comments: 1 so far

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1. 

   Those productivity arguments go by the wayside, regardless. They’ve compared a framework with a scripting language, which just doesn’t work. To my eyes, it makes them look ridiculous, because they don’t have the confidence to compare GWT with a JavaScript-based framework.

   Comment by Shawn Lauriat, Tuesday, December 4, 2007 @ 3:14 pm

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