Google Web Toolkit: GWT Java Ajax Programming
by
Prabhakar Chaganti
Packt Publishing
1 edition
February 2007
248 pages
Reviewed by Jeanne Boyarsky, April 2007
(8 of 10)
"Google Web Toolkit: GWT Java AJAX Programming" - I learned a lot about GWT reading this book. The book assumes you know Java and web programming (HTML/JavaScript/Web packaging) well. Some of the examples use other technologies such as JDBC and XPath, but they are understandable without this knowledge.
I liked the examples as they were things you would want to do. The examples range from self contained form tasks to a full widget. The examples appeared to be "complete" with a description before each section. While there are explanations at the end of the example, some examples are really long. One example has 3.75 pages of getters and setters. Some examples emphasize business logic more than GWT. Other examples were really good. I think the examples get better if you read the book a few times. I was having trouble following the large code segments at the beginning and it got easier once I understood GWT. Basically, you should feel comfortable learning from code.
I wasn't always that clear on what objects/APIs were available in different scenarios, but the GWT API online provides that information nicely. I'd like the book shows me how to do something rather than just repeat what is online. I think this book and the website complement each other nicely by providing different perspectives.
All in all, I am happy with the book. It helps jump into GWT and provides a useful resource to learn by example.
(8 of 10)
