The Biggest Ever GWT Giveaway Contest!

September 8th, 2008 - Written by in Contests

With the release of GWT 1.5 just over a week old, I thought it would be a great time to announce a new GWT Site contest. Like my previous two contests, Instantiations has been very generous and is offering three more licenses of their just released GWT Designer 5.1. However, this time I decided to see what other goodies I could get for you guys and here is what I was able to come up with.

The Prizes

Ext GWT

Developer License of Ext-GWT (5 licenses)
Wow, this is a great prize. For those who haven’t seen it before, Ext GWT is a great library for building really slick looking GWT applications. It’s predecessor, MyGWT was voted the Top GWT library, and Darrell has been adding some great new features for the upcoming 1.1 release.


GWT Designer

One year Subscription of GWT Designer (3 licenses)
Instantiations’ GWT Designer is an easy to use GUI creator that makes developing GWT applications easy. The latest version, released last week, now supports GWT 1.5 and has the added capability of working with the MyGWT and GWT Ext widget libraries.


Google Web Toolkit Applications

Google Web Toolkit Applications by Ryan Dewsbury (2 copies).
Ryan is an actual GWT guru who’s actually developed three popular GWT applications: GPokr, KDice and XSketch. His book is all about learning the techniques to create practical GWT applications. I learned a lot from this book.


GWT In Practice

GWT In Practice, by Robert Cooper and Charlie Collins. (3 copies)
GWT in Practice is a book for more intermediate users of GWT and covers many advanced topics. Robert and Charlie are creators of the and if you’re interested in doing any J2EE development with GWT, you’ll definitely want to take a look at this book.


Pro Web 2.0 Application Development with GWT by Jeff Dwyer. (3 copies)
This is the latest GWT book out there and currently the only one that covers GWT 1.5. This is also an intermediate level book and focuses on using GWT to build a live GWT application called ToCollege.net.


How To Enter

The easiest way to participate is to . If you’ve already subscribed, then you are already entered to win and you will also be automatically entered into every other future contest! (1 entry)

Here are the other three ways to enter. Pick from one of the choices below and either leave your response as a comment to this post or write a post on your blog (4 entries). If you write a post, make sure to link back to your post in the comments so I can keep track.

1) For those new to GWT, just and take it for a spin. Then let us know what you think of it, good or bad. How does GWT compare to your favorite web framework? Will you keep using it? If not, why?

2) Show us a GWT project you’ve been working on. Whether its something already open to the public or just some hobby project you’ve been working on, this is your chance to give your GWT application a plug. Please include your link.

3) Give a review of your favorite GWT library, tool, book or GWT based application.

There are 16 great prizes to win. If you complete all the tasks, you can get a total of 5 entries into the contest. With so many prizes, your chances of winning are quite good! The contest runs from September 8th (11:59 PM Pacific Time) To September 30th (11:59 PM Pacific Time). All the winners will be picked by Random.org’s list randomizer. Please make sure to enter a valid email, or you won’t be able to win.

40 Comments Stumble it!

40 Comments »

Comment by Sascha Subscribed to comments via email
2008-09-09 03:14:02

Hi,

Im working on several GWT projects; mostly internal stuff. One of the nicest features with GWT is like this:
- we have one customer using a CMS “Teamsite” which only supports deploying static files to the liveserver. All pages needs to be shtml as mandatory requirement from the customer; so the only way for us using navigations and other stuff interacting with the rest of the side was to use jsps instead of any cool framework like JSF, Tapestry or Cocoon. Right now we can use GWT for it, merging static created CMS templates with dynamic web parts coming from a different WAR archive without beeing like an alien to the rest of the site; this is really very cool :)

 
Comment by samyem Subscribed to comments via email
2008-09-09 05:35:05

Good to hear of another give away!
I would like to mention the site I am developing for brightpages.com which uses GWT to handle most of the interactive widgets. The site uses GWT RPC to communicate to a Spring/Hibernate based backend. In addition to GWT, we have also used Spring MVC to help GWT render the pages. Some portions use Flash to view audio and video clips but are integrated to the site with GWT with calls between GWT and SWF done via JSNI and ActionScript.

 
Comment by Javier
2008-09-09 06:16:43

Hey, that sounds interesting.

We are developing a big SaaS tool using GWT, at the moment we are happier as time goes by with the tools.

We specially likes of the gwt-dnd for dragn and drop library is donde. It has been very useful for us.

Regards,
Javier

 
Comment by Mike Shaffer
2008-09-09 07:14:23

I wish I could show you what we’re working on…but I’d have to kill you.

Actually, it’s just one of those regular old business apps for internal use. But the productivity gains and quality of development are truely amazing due to GWT. This is a pilot program where if successful, our company (big Fortune 100 sized global financial institution) will be moving all UI type development to GWT. Exciting times.

So to really follow the rules: here’s an additional comment on my favorite GWT book, GWT in Practice. I submitted a review on Amazon, so this is just one of those “and I forgot to mention” type of deals. I really found it fascinating that in a rather small book, that the Cooper & Collins, the authors, did a very nice job of detailing more advanced concepts like JPA, DTO’s and the concepts (albeit basic) of Object Mapping and transforming. Heady stuff, but this is what makes a real enterprise solution. With GWT, this is not only possible, it’s very usable since everything remains in Java and you’re able to completely work the problems in your IDE of choice (mine happens to be Eclipse). This is a book that can actually teach some very good things and is about GWT…I’ve read it through twice now and I’m going back for a third time through, now focusing more on the testing techniques, something that our project needs to improve. As I’ve stated before, this book ties Robert Hanson’s GWT in Action as my favorite GWT book. And while it’s always nice to state “if you buy only one book…” but truefully, they both deserve a spot on the bookshelf. They both scratch different itches and demonstrate to a cynical, read everything on the web developer that books are still vital tools to the developer!

Comment by Chris Fong
2008-09-09 08:26:38

Can I sacrifice myself for the good of the GWT community? =)

Anyway, awesome review Mike. I agree, GWT in Practice is a really good book. I’m about to read it through for a second time myself.

 
 
Comment by Srini
2008-09-09 08:25:49

My Favorite book in GWT is definetly “Pro Web 2.0 Application Development with GWT by Jeff Dwyer”.It covers so many advanced concepts like OpenID integration ,Spring Integration ,Design guide lines and provides source code of a completly functional website.

Here is an experimental website i have developed using GWT .

http://www.indiainmemphis.com

 
Comment by Ed
2008-09-09 09:25:54

Hi Chris,

Can I give review on my favorite GWT library as well? (not just GWT app).

Comment by Chris
2008-09-09 10:07:31

Yup, writing a review of your favorite GWT library, book, app or tool would qualify.

 
 
Pingback by One more commit » Blog Archive » New contest on GWT site!
2008-09-09 15:46:57

[...] a new contest on GWT Site, and it’s the biggest one yet. There’s 16 prizes to be won, including EXT GWT and GWT [...]

 
Comment by John Subscribed to comments via email
2008-09-10 00:40:46

I enjoy GWT, probably because of the Java as much as anything else. Java helps me cut down the stupid typos and mistakes that I would otherwise make.

With the appearance of Chrome, we start to see the pieces of Google’s master plan coming together, and I think GWT will be a very important part.

My first GWT project was a tide chart:

http://bocaciegapark.com/bocatides.php

I use JSON to get tide data from the server.

I used GChart, and found it very easy to use. A bit quirky on setting up the axis with the labels and ticks, but other than that, really nice. I am also using the gwt-maps library in another project–so far, excellent results.

John

Comment by John C. Gunther
2008-09-22 20:27:59

Very glad to see your post: it is the first public web site using a real-live Client-side GChart I’m aware of outside of my on-line demo charts. So you’ve already won my “contest” but the only prize is a link back to your site from the Client-side GChart home page (sorry).

Based on looking at your chart, it was produced with GChart 2.0 or earlier. The latest version, 2.2, (available on the Client-side GChart home page) has the following additional features your chart could benefit from:

o The setTickLabelFormat method has a new “date casting prefix” (“=(Date)”) that can correct the quirky tick label problems you mentioned, and can also place real date-time formatted strings into your hover text instead of the integers that are there now.

o There’s also a setBlankImageURL method that you can use to get rid of the missing image icon on your chart.

The new version also updates a lot faster than the one you are using, which could become important if you ever wanted to show, say, 240 instead of just 24 bars on the chart at the same time.

John C. Gunther

 
 
Comment by Jeremy Subscribed to comments via email
2008-09-10 01:27:56

I’ve been working on GWT since inception (around 2006). Check out StreetSine, a Singapore Real Estate website that’s written in 100% GWT. Feel free to let me know what you think. :)

 
Pingback by Concurso “The Biggest Ever GWT Giveaway Contest!”
2008-09-10 04:54:23

[...] Link para o Concurso: https://gwtsite.com/the-big.....y-contest/ [...]

 
Comment by luciano Subscribed to comments via email
2008-09-10 05:00:14

The GWTWindowManager project is an MDI framework available for GWT.

Any winner have to participate to win ;)

Cheers.

Luciano

Comment by luciano Subscribed to comments via email
2008-09-10 05:02:15

oops without link is more complicated i would say.
http://www.gwtwindowmanager.org/

 
 
Comment by Andrej Subscribed to comments via email
2008-09-10 13:08:51

Post Affiliate Xpress is our first application written in GWT. During development we have created gwt-php framework called GPF(GwtPhpFramework). This framework will be released later.

GWT library? We are using GWT2SWF, but I plan to rewrite because of bad code quality.

Post Affiliate Xpress – online demo
http://www.demo.qualityunit.com/pax4/

 
Comment by Quoc Bui
2008-09-10 15:08:59

Here is a project that we’ve been working on:

FiveSprockets.com

FiveSprockets offers the resources of a Hollywood studio to the masses. It’s “your virtual production studio”, delivering a web-based collaboration platform designed with resources and on-demand software to support the five phases of media production: (1) story development and scriptwriting; (2) pre-production; (3) production; (4) post-production; and (5) marketing and distribution. Our mission is to enable users to make better media, more efficiently and profitably, anywhere they are.

We are also participating in the techcrunch50 demo pit today http://www.techcrunch50.com/20.....emopit=109

Thanks Chris!

 
Comment by Adrian Buerki
2008-09-10 23:53:19

My first went online almost two years ago; it’s a URL redirection service featuring access statistics and access origin geo location:

http://traceurl.com

The second GWT related project I’m working on is a library to ease applet integration with GWT:

 
Comment by Carlo Micheluzzi Subscribed to comments via email
2008-09-11 03:23:45

Here there’re some my projects with GWT and GWT-EXT.
http://goodwaythinking.blogspot.com

In particolar I’m working on a Calendar to manage the informations about my company (Entry and exit timetables, work activities, holidays, reservation cars, refunds and others) and then on a applications to manage informations about installations of our programms (address, contacts, software keys, hotels and restaurants, informations about telecontrol, etc).

Sorry, Now I haven’t a demo application, but all the applications are in use.

Thanks
Carlo

 
Comment by Ben Subscribed to comments via email
2008-09-11 03:24:55

I’m in love with the GWT ever since I first learned about it.

You find my latest little GWT-project here: http://www.furiganizer.com

The Furiganizer is a convenient reading aid for students of the Japanese language:
It adds beautiful and printable Furigana to any Japanese text, learns interactively which Kanji a student already knows, and offers easy access to Jim Breen’s fabulous Japanese-English dictionary.

Being a pure GWT-application, it took me just ten days to develop this application, including the production of screenshots, texts in English and German, etc. Thanks, Google!

Ben

PS: Feedback is very welcome!

 
Comment by dummymael
2008-09-11 04:00:28

Hi Chris,

I hope this will count as an entry – my blog post for the contest.

Cheers,

Darth

Comment by Chris
2008-09-11 06:28:02

That’s great. It definitely counts. Thanks Darth!

 
 
Comment by Mark Faine
2008-09-11 11:47:49

I really want to use it for a new project but before (1.4) it could not support Java 1.5 annotations. Does 1.5 fully support Java 1.5, including annotations. I want to use it in conjunction with JPA.

Thanks,
Mark

 
Comment by Grant Slender
2008-09-12 03:16:55

GWT 1.5.2 is certainly the step towards the dream of fast and feature rich AJAX without the long and complex multi-browser and multi-language development. Looking forward, the future for GWT is looking bright with support from a new super-fast browser and better development tools (oophm) and toolkits. Things like OFCGWT () only make things easier when viewed against other competing web frameworks.

 
Comment by Niraj J
2008-09-12 12:46:07

Here is my blog entry on GWT.

http://www.gandalf-lab.com/blo.....is-it.html

 
Comment by Robert Lebel Subscribed to comments via email
2008-09-12 12:57:57

My only GWT project is an online recipe manager i released 10 months ago (in french). Here is the recipe browser for publicly shared recipes.

I’m a big fan of GWT, it’s very fun to work with.

 
2008-09-14 00:51:34

[...] had a lot of great entries during the first week of our latest GWT Contest. Make sure to participate to get a chance to [...]

 
2008-09-18 07:58:26

[...] and Commercial). If you’re interested in using it for any commercial projects, check out our Biggest Ever GWT Giveaway Contest. Thanks to the guys at ExtJS, you could get a chance to win one of 5 developer licenses of Ext GWT [...]

 
Comment by Allan
2008-09-18 10:04:05

We are highly likely to use GWT as our first entry into web applications. We currently develop mostly desk top applications. We did a little proof-of-concept and it came out very nicely.

 
2008-09-20 22:50:44

[...] with GWT. If you’re interested getting your own copy of the book, make sure to enter our contest. There’s only 10 days [...]

 
Comment by Claude Subscribed to comments via email
2008-09-24 12:35:09

In the ideal world, the Java developer would never have to write JavaScript code. This is the fulfilled promise of GWT…

The Google Web Toolkit (GWT) represents nothing less than a revolutionary client-centric approach to web development.

We have used it with success in developping syllabus (course outline) authoring tool called OpenSyllabus.

VProject link

 
Comment by Olaf
2008-09-27 07:26:05

Hi!

I used to write Eclipse RCP applications and started playing with the Eclipse Rich Ajax Platform and Google GWT some weeks ago. I have just released my first Google GWT application at http://shopping-list.biz/de/ (currently only in German, an English version will be available soon).

Best,
Olaf

 
2008-09-29 23:51:05

[...] a quick reminder to you all, but there is only one day left to collect more entries to our Biggest Ever GWT Giveaway Contest. You have a great chance to win some cool prizes like a free developer license of Ext GWT ($289 [...]

 
Comment by PiotrN
2008-09-30 10:04:52

I first started playing with GWT just over a year ago. After some initial small issues my company tried to create an application for document management. The project was to ambitious and was abandoned after 2 months.
It’s great technology, especially 1.5 release, the optimizations and quality of resulting JS code is astonishing.
There are some downsides though.
In many cases, you need to double the work and create plain old interface for accessibility and SEO.
The other weak point is that many of the widgets rely heavily on tables. I understand that is sometimes easier to make IE6 work with tables, but I myself always try to do things the right way.
I’m sure going to use it.

 
Comment by Bonsai Menu
2008-09-30 10:06:54

Hi!!
I’m a big fan of GWT, I made a web application that gives an easy interface to make a web menu, you can change the menu content and style in my site, copy the code, paste in your site/blog/what you want, and you have a web menu tested in IE,Mozzila,Safari and Opera in your site! Without care about html/javascript/css,that’s all in a user optical.

here is my web application for the The Biggest Ever GWT Giveaway Contest:
http://bonsaimenu.com.sapo.pt/
It was not finished and is only and beta version…The interface seems easy to me, but i will try to put the tutorial in the blog today or tomorrow.

Keep it up

 
Comment by El Mentecato
2008-09-30 13:53:56

I’ve written a blog post with a GWT presentation on it, as well as my impressions on GWT, and the current work I’m doing using the library.

Read the post here:
http://elmentecato.blogspot.co.....ction.html

 
Comment by Joël Bourquard Subscribed to comments via email
2008-09-30 14:01:50

Hi all,

I’m working on a “smart” chat application called Leeloo Chat. It already works quite well, and allows people to register, discuss publicly (even without registering), and to exchange rich text messages with embedded images !

Also, there’s a “smart” contact list, which detects who you’re talking with, even if nicknames contain spelling mistakes. When a two-way dialog is detected, the person is automatically added to a special “sub-panel” on top of your contact list, which allows for quick messaging of that person. You can also quickly add that person to your friends.

Features which are currently being developed are:
- topic-based discussion with evolutive, collaborative edition of topics
- and much more ! (can’t tell yet) ;-)

 
Comment by Pavel Lahoda Subscribed to comments via email
2008-09-30 16:16:32

I wrote a couple of applications using GWT, such as internal banking system for University (https://tzs.cvut.cz/TZS/) and wrote a blog post about comparison of GWT to NextApp Echo framework (http://www.perpetumdesign.com/.....Echo3.html)

 
Comment by Pavel Lahoda Subscribed to comments via email
2008-09-30 16:22:20

Sorry for possible double post, but the first try probably did not succeded :

I created

and wrote