Chronoscope: 2 + 2 = 5 with GWT and Android

By Dion Almaer, Google Developer Programs

Timepedia has released Chronoscope, an open source charting and visualization library, built using GWT.

It features:

• Canvas abstraction for drawing vector graphs
• Graph Style Sheets abstraction for configuring the look-and-feel of charts
• Scalable multiresolution rendering supporting up to tens of thousands of points
• Zoom and pan at interactive frame rates, from centuries to milliseconds
• Auto-ranging, auto-layout of chart axes and ticks.
• Auto-legend, and mini-chart Overview
• Add pushpin markers, domain and range markers, and overlays like Google Maps
• Bookmarkable chart state, works with Back button
• JS interopability. GWT API can be used by pure Javascript programmers
• Microformat support. Charts can be configured without programming.
• Server-side Font assistance. Render rotated text.
• Portable, Chronoscope is not tied to GWT, can be used to render from servlets, applets, or other environments.

What is particularly interesting is how the Chronoscope team was able to take their existing Java source code, add 8 hours of Android exploration, and ended up with the same charting and visualization library that works on Android using their graphics support.

This is one area that GWT truly shines. The fact that you write your code in the Java programming language means that you can reuse it in other places where Java runs. Being able to write one application and quickly have it run on Android and the iPhone is pretty compelling.

Here you can see it running:

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Queplix discusses their GWT open source application

By Dion Almaer, Google Developer Programs

I was recently in New York City and had the chance to meet Steven Yaskin and Paul Tenberg of Queplix, a company that is trying to change the face of CRM using an open source business model. Steven and Paul are both old timers in the CRM industry, and it was very interesting to discuss their vision.

The interview focuses on QueWeb, the open source customer care application that they released. The application is built using GWT and uses a slew of Google APIs and products (such as the Google Mini). We discuss how open source affects their business, how their architected this CRM framework and details on some of the magic that allows you to slurp up legacy applications and hand you back an open source version built with GWT widgets. This enables you to tweak the functionality without being in the proprietary black box. As part of this effort, they created a slew of GWT widgets for reuse. All of this is hosting in their Google Code project.

Watch the full interview below, which ends with a short demo of QueWeb.



Thanks again to Steven and Paul for taking the time to meet.

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Google Web Toolkit out of beta as of 1.4 release

By Dan Peterson, Google Web Toolkit team

Removing the beta label from a product is a great milestone, and we're glad to report that the latest one to make that move is the Google Web Toolkit (GWT).

With the release of Google Web Toolkit (GWT) version 1.4, we'd like to give a shout out to the open-source GWT contributors that put in many hours of hard work to make GWT what it is today. We look forward to continuing to make GWT better.

If you are new to GWT check out the story and then read up on the specifics about GWT 1.4:

There's lots and lots of cool new stuff in GWT 1.4, so it's hard to know where to start. How about application performance?! This release includes several breakthroughs that make your compiled GWT code significantly smaller and faster. Many users are reporting that after a simple recompile with 1.4, their applications are up to 30% smaller and 20%-50% faster. And startup time in particular is now highly optimized thanks to a new bootstrapping technique and the availability of image bundles. To see the new hotness in action, try visiting the new-and-improved Mail sample a few times. It's darn fast the very first time you visit it, but subsequent visits are insanely fast. That's because, in addition to a fast initial startup, GWT code uses a clever caching technique to prevent applications from making unnecessary HTTP requests. As Joel Webber (Tech Lead of GWT Core Libraries) would say, "The fastest HTTP requests are those that do not, in fact, occur."

Hungry for more?

• Download GWT
• Details for upgrading to GWT 1.4
  
• Visit the GWT blog
• Join the discussions on the GWT Developer Forum

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Google Web Toolkit Version 1.4 RC

By Dan Peterson, Google Web Toolkit Team

In the midst of preparing for Google Developer Day, those of us on the Google Web Toolkit (GWT) team wanted to give you something fun to play with: GWT version 1.4 RC. This release candidate represents the first major iteration that has happened in the open, with significant contributions from the GWT open source community.

If you've not had a chance to check out GWT before, now is a great time. In version 1.4, we feel we've made significant progress on "making GWT better," including reducing the size of the JavaScript output, adding new widgets, and improving the start-up time for a given application. Give it a whirl and bring your questions to Developer Day, or feel free to post them on the GWT Developer Forum.

Read more about version 1.4 on the GWT blog.

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