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.