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Google, AJAX, JAVA??? Huh?

Google uses Java to write XHTML and now they are sharing that technology with everyone. The first thing I thought when I saw this is “what a bunch of Yahoo copycats” then I noticed that it was based on writing Java code to make XHTML and JS and I thought WTF!? Now I’m just plain confused by all of this. Why would you write Java code and develop a compiler to transcode it over to XHTML, seems ass backwards to me.

The funny thing is they keep claiming that this is supposed to “make AJAX development easier”, that one deserves another WTF! Since when has writing Java code been easier than writing XHTML? Seriously now, I would rather gnaw off my left leg than code in Java. Also, step back and think for a moment, the people who really want to write AJAX applications are small time shops not big corporations, and how many small time shops do you know that write Java code. A better offering would have been a JavaScript library similar to the excellent one Yahoo has released.

Overall they get an A for creativity, an A for open sourcing it, an A for laughability, and an F for usefulness. Thanks for another weird open source offering Google.

Update 5-22-2006: After some thought on the issue I am updating this as a C for usefulness. I can see how this would be useful to Java developers. I just hope that it brings about a group of good web applications and not a bunch of hacks.

7 Responses to “Google, AJAX, JAVA??? Huh?”

  1. [...] Some developers are surprised it’s Java-based. In the words of kiwi developer Phil Pearson: "it turns out to be a Java-to-Javascript translator. WTF?" Mike Crute is similarly unimpressed with this "weird open source offering" from Google, noting that "I would rather gnaw off my left leg than code in Java". Scott Yang comments: "Hmm. Less code. Yeah right…" [...]

    » Google Web Toolkit released - rumors of Morfik alliance? | Web 2.0 Explorer | ZDNet.com said this on May 17th, 2006 at 10:35 pm

  2. It’s not entirely open source, though: “The GWT Java-to-JavaScript compiler and hosted web browser are shipped binary-only and subject to the license below.”

    Manuzhai said this on May 18th, 2006 at 3:08 am

  3. Hi,

    I’m afraid you’re totally off the mark. What you rate as F for usefulness will in fact revolutionize the web. There are similar technologies available, but none are freely available. There are 2.8 million Java developers out there that will suddenly be empowered to do AJAX in a productive way (not possible to do before GWT’s release without paying out sums for proprietary technologies). Furthermore, those who haven’t had the chance to dig in the OO Java scheme, will.

    What Google offered to the world yesterday is the possibility of remoting full apps in an easy way. Gosh, I can even see remoting parts of operating systems… windowing and all.

    Frank said this on May 18th, 2006 at 4:04 am

  4. Since there are a a couple million JEE developers out there, having an easy way to write AJAX code is obviously a good thing. Good for Google! They just created big hype, AGAIN!

    Anonymous said this on May 18th, 2006 at 10:06 am

  5. Google Web Toolkit (AJAX library)

    When I first saw the news about the newly released Google’s Web Toolkit:

    Google Web Toolkit (GWT) is a Java software development framework that makes writing AJAX applications like Google Maps and Gmail easy for developers who don’t speak …

    dready blog v2.0 said this on May 19th, 2006 at 12:48 am

  6. Read this no-hype blog: they forsee things about MS. Mike, try out Java for real. You’ll become a direct competitor of Microsoft. Who wouldn’t like that? (got nothing against MS, but a little fresh air will do all much good):

    http://digital-lifestyles.info/display_page.asp?section=cm&id=3287

    Frank said this on May 19th, 2006 at 2:58 pm

  7. Think about it for a minute Mike. You have a massive installed base of java developers, many well versed in writing enterprise based applications using the J2EE frame work, many others quite adept at J2SE development. These developers have expertise in object oriented design that would be quite useful if it could be distilled into the problem space of AJAX applications. As for your comment that:

    The java > js compilation will be far far easier to handle then what is currently required to provide for the client like response in an AJAX application..which is NOT just XHTML. It is javascript/css/xml/ and whatever server language usually employed for back end service requests. Asp/Jsp/Python/Perl..etc. This is a horror show of different languages that makes AJAX programming the headache that it is for most that endeavor to persue it. GWT makes it much simpler, design (in a clean OO environment) then compile to *running* AJAX code. I don’t see how anyone can see the current AJAX writing method as being preferable to this. I suggest you seriously look into java, if you are familiar with javascript the similarities will startle you, though I much appreciate the formal syntax of java..it is a perfect compromise between the rigor of C or C++ coding and the lax syntactical and object oriented features of javascript itself. The large installed base allows ready and rapid migration of existing developers to building functional AJAX applications…and this is a very good thing.

    David said this on May 22nd, 2006 at 9:42 pm

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