Huh. I’d heard about this when Google launched it, the Google Web Toolkit (GWT). But I hadn’t read about it til now. It’s very unusual. It’s a way of programming web applications in Java, but it is MUCH more akin to programming a client side GUI application than it is a web application. The GWT generates Javascript and HTML for the browser from the server-side Java code you write. In essence making the browser a mini-OS to run your apps in, with GWT compiling the Java for that environment.
As the author points out, there are some fallacies. The failure to degrade gracefully for non-Javascript supported users is a big beef with me as that typically leads to poor experiences for the disabled. Also, it seems like an odd and complex way to create HTML pages, though in essence you’re really creating a GUI software application now instead of dynamic web pages.
I’m curious to see where this goes and if it takes off or not.