Generating dynamic web applications using DSL and GWT
Abstract
The Google Web Toolkit (GWT) enables us to create graphically attractive web applications without any knowledge of HTML or javascript. A disadvantage is having to write the user interface (UI) by hand in java code. Wouldn't it be great if we could eliminate the tedious task of UI programming, for example, using a Domain Specific Language (DSL)?
In this presentation we will see what can be done when we unite DSL and GWT using a real life example: composing complex product configurations in pre-sales projects. The large number of inter-dependent product parameters must be displayed in an insightful and comprehensible way in a user interface. We will show how we solved this problem years ago using a large XML containing the product definitions presented by a plain and simple JSP/XSLT web application. The new solution consists of a DSL developed in xText/openArchitecureWare used to describe the product parameters and their dependencies. From the DSL model we generate Java classes to be integrated into a GWT application which in the end contains the graphical representation of the product configuration. The product specialist can now describe the problem domain in his own language using the xText tooling and without any effort see his model come to life in the browser.
Speaker
Willem Vermeer is a hands-on Java engineer based in the Netherlands who doesn't believe anything until he understands how it works. More than ten years experience in the IT industry, working with JEE technology since 2000 in both The Netherlands and Spain. Has seen the java world evolve from JDK 1.1.8 applets with servlets and JSPs via Struts to rich ajax user interfaces using great tools like GWT. Looking forward to fantasize about new possibilities of DSLs and how to use the right tools to make our life as java developers more productive and fun.
