Google Web Toolkit is a fantastic piece of kit. As a developer, or as anybody really, when you do a repetitive task for any period of time you become fully aware of the problems associated with it and how to improve them. Microsoft’s take on this problem is to make applications prettier, and more complex, whereas Google and Apple, try to increase complexity utilizing simplicity. My personal opinion is that GWT addresses this by making web application development a lot simpler at every stage of the software lifecycle.
It is clear to any academically minded individual that open source is the best route forward because it takes in the ideas of the people you are trying to encourage to adopt. There is an instant connection and contribution between you and your client base. As the web develops in complexity it is increasingly important that a robust top to bottom professional framework exists to develop complex and layered applications. Developers are increasing excited and frustrated with the multitude of decisions required for any web product. GWT helps with this problem by providing a toolset that addresses many layers in the stack. The proof is also in the proverbial pudding. If you think Google Wave is a good product, then wouldn’t you like to use the same toolset that was used to produce that? Take a look at the popular websites on the web, very few, I am aware are developed using Microsoft technologies, and the ones that are, feel like they have been developed by Microsoft technologies.
The success of the iPhone, iOs and Android platforms is clear. The business model clearly works. At Google IO 2010 the Chrome Applications store was announced which will provide another one stop shop for people to try and buy web applications. With HTML5 on the horizon it is clear these applications are becoming feature rich and their complexity and adoption is likely to increase exponentially. As a result it is essential that the developer be allowed, to use a professional programming language, top to bottom in the software stack. It makes life easier, more robust, and fulfills the need to program professionally. As we move towards the cloud, frameworks such as GWT, will increase in importance as the de-facto choice for cloud based web application programming.
