Eduardo Cavero wrote:I haven't used jQuery yet, but I did use other JavaScript frameworks like Prototype and ExtJS. I like GWT because I'm a Java developer and that means I could have all my application written entiery in Java.
I'm a Java developer as well, but I found GWT a little constrained; maybe it's because I've used jquery quite a bit. Java works well enough for back-end plumbing, but I really missed javascript closures when I was using GWT. Things that I could do with jquery in just a few lines of html and javascript, blew up into pages of code with GWT. I think that's acceptable if you're building a large, complex application because then you benefit quite a bit from GWT's compiler.
Also, GWT doesn't entirely insulate you from the concerns of Javascript; there is JSNI code to write at times, and when debugging problems the extra layers can sometimes be aggravating. I would recommend jquery for 80% of projects and GWT for the other 20%. NOTE: This recommendation could change if GWT were to ever support other input languages (such as Scala or JS2) or if Java
finally gains closures.
Between the two, my first exposure was to GWT. I later did a full project in jquery, then returned to GWT, then scrapped the GWT project and reimplemented it in jquery. If you're interested to know why, read my blog entries on switching
from jquery to GWT and then
back to jquery.