GWT @ IO

Simeon Pinder spinder at redhat.com
Thu Jun 28 13:34:11 UTC 2012


Great link. I wasn't aware that Fowler was on a 'state of the technology' board so definitely holds some weight there. However I think the 'end' is perhaps a bit premature here.  Dart appears to be Google's attempt to fix the 'JavaScript running environment' problems by building a new language from the ground up that i)possesses stronger typing and ii)address many other shortcomings present whenever engineering/building applications on top of JavaScript.  While both are admirable goals(and if anyone could start/pull that off it would be Google), it goes against two pretty powerful forces:
 
i)Scripting and loosely typed applications are still preferred over strongly typed for ease of use and speed of development for web applications.  In some sense the stronger typing and the effort to comply with such is perceived negatively despite the benefits that stronger typing provide in engineering/maintaining these same web applications.
ii)More importantly, JavaScript is a standard that is currently supported in all major browsers.  Support for this newer Dart 'script' environment replacement would need to a)evolve b)be adopted by other major browsers alongside JavaScript(some already opposed to Dart), c)appeal to web developers willing to ignore a large audience of legacy corporate and lay users still married to JavaScript.

While I think this does bear watching, Dart still seems like one of Google's experimental projects.  It's a tall order to dethrone a run time environment that does work and has fended off many competitors for providing RIAs for many years now.  

Additionally, here's a blog about how Dart was initially perceived by notable engineers at other browsers:
http://xahlee.blogspot.com/2012/05/what-do-microsoft-apple-mozilla-say.html

-Simeon 



----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jiri Kremser" <jkremser at redhat.com>
> To: rhq-devel at lists.fedorahosted.org
> Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2012 4:18:07 AM
> Subject: GWT @ IO
> 
> Hi, I've got bad news. It looks like the only presentation at Google
> IO about GWT is called "Migrating Code from GWT to Dart". What I am
> trying to say is that it looks like there will be less and less
> support in the long term, depending on how the Dart will be
> successful. Unfortunately, Martin Fowler's
> http://www.thoughtworks.com/radar has basically the same opinion.
> There is still vibrant community and a lot of projects out there
> built with GWT, but to me it looks like the beginning of the very
> slow end.
> 
> JK
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> rhq-devel mailing list
> rhq-devel at lists.fedorahosted.org
> https://fedorahosted.org/mailman/listinfo/rhq-devel
> 


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