Why should I use jQuery instead of GWT? [closed]

Answer 1

The answer is not easy. The answer is "it depends":

GWT:

• if you know and like Java
• if your server code is also written in Java, writing client code in Java makes it possible to use the same code on client and server
• if you like things provided by strongly-typed languages: compile-time type checking, automated refactoring, automated code generation (Ctrl+1 in Eclipse), code completion (Ctrl+Space)
• if you like component-oriented programming (eg MenuBar creates a menu)
• if complexity of GWT (compared to jQuery) is not problem for you
• if big generated code is not a problem for you

jQuery:

• if you know and like JavaScript
• you don't need to use the same code on client and server (eg. client - JS, server - Java or PHP)
• if you don't need compile-time type checking, automated refactoring, etc
• if you don't need component-oriented programming (to create a complex component in jQuery you need to create a series of divs, and call $("those divs").makeXXXXControl())
• if you like simplicity (jQuery is simpler than GWT)
• if you need very small code (eg to make website loading faster)

Personally I would recommend GWT for most projects, but jQuery also has pros and some people may prefer jQuery.

Answer 2

I agree with Russ Cam that it depends on what your team is familiar with. When I am doing work for my personal business apps, I much prefer GWT. I find javascript, even with jquery, to have annoying object oriented syntax. If you have an app with 10,000 lines of UI code, jquery strikes me as something that would lead to a mess of hard to maintain code with poor reuse.

Does anyone know of a large scale project done in jquery?

I think if you are trying to squeeze every last byte out of the resulting filesize, don't use any library and write the javascript from scratch (ie: google homepage fade effect).

Something to think about regarding javascript/jquery versus gwt. If you use common object oriented principles and design patterns, you will likely get better performing code with gwt. Why?

Let's take the example of polymorphism. If you write an app that uses heavy polymorphism in javascript, you will get the benefit of maintanability and code reuse this provides. However, your code will also get the performance hit of using polymorphism.

Now, if you used gwt, you will also get the benefit of maintanability and code reuse this provides, BUT the gwt compiler will optimize away the polymorphism into concrete class usage, hence increasing performance.

Answer 3

Active user group and recent gaining popularity clearly indicates jQuery is the winner.

Answer 4

I would suggest using GWT for teams with people who don't understand JavaScript but are (perhaps) more comfortable with Java. With GWT, you're likely to save yourself days if not weeks in compatibility testing, and will avoid a lot of common JavaScript pitfalls that people new to the language smash into. GWT also has great packaging features for CSS sprites, embedded data, and more.

However, if you know and understand JavaScript, I would use JavaScript, whatever your library of choice may be. Although I haven't had a chance to inspect GWT's generated code too closely, I saw some examples at Google I/O, and while it looked all candy and sparkles, you're likely create more elegant JavaScript code doing it the ol' fashioned way.

Answer 5

my personal opinion would be for jQuery but thats because I never use Java and really like using the jQuery plugins.

Answer 6

The main problems I see with GWT vs. a native Javascript solution (jQuery or others) are:

• There is an additional process that separates you from your final product. You develop your app in Java and you debug the Java code, yet you release a machine translated version of this code. For a decently sized app I can't imagine that you won't need to debug the actual code running on the browser at times, and this is going to be a headache, since it isn't your code.

• Since you write your code in Java you are limited to use Java libraries. If you find some JS library that you like it would be awfully difficult to add it to your GWT project, you may need to write a Java wrapper for it. If you are developing native JS you can just add it to your project.

• JS is an awesome language in its own right, with a solid object model that is different than Java's. I have developed a few apps in native JS for HP webOS and was surprised to find that many of the preconceptions I had about the language were not true. You can write clean, efficient and maintainable code in JS as much as you can in Java, and if you take the time to understand the JS object model you won't even need to use a support library to mimic a more typical class/object model like those of Java and C++ on top of JS. Javascript's prototypes are pretty cool.

• If you may ever consider releasing your app on mobile platforms, then a native JS app can easily be wrapped inside phonegap and have access to several mobile platforms, without additional effort. There is a GWT wrapper for phonegap as well, but going back to my first item, if you have the choice to work with the real thing then why choose a solution that requires translation/emulation?

Good luck.