Last May, Google officially released the Google Web Toolkit (GWT), a Java-based framework for developing AJAX Web applications. Now Google has decided to make the source code available under the open-source Apache 2.0 license. GWT uses object-oriented widgets and desktop application development idioms to facilitate rapid development of Web applications with proper multi-browser support. GWT uses a generative approach to AJAX, converting Java code into Javascript and HTML with a specialized compiler.
Initially developed by Google to simplify development of GMail, Flickr, and Google Maps, GWT has met with limited adoption since its release. Some users have cited the proprietary license as the primary impediment. By making the source code available under an open license, Google is making it possible for independent developers to improve and extend GWT. Developers could potentially contribute patches to improve browser support or find ways to integrate GWT with other popular Java-based technologies. According to Google, releasing GWT under an open-source license was planned from the start, but delayed until now because the developers felt that it would be premature to make the source code available before completing certain major infrastructural changes. The source code for the Google Web Toolkit is currently available from its page at Google’s open-source project management site.