So... what you're saying is that having better tooling is a bad thing?
Disclaimer: I've done GWT and I liked it.
I did not find any Java<->Javascript paradigm shift problem at all. You simply forget about the Javascript and just write Java.
The big benefit of using GWT over writing 'native' javascript is that you get the same behaviour on all browsers.
The big benefit of using GWT over using other java based web frameworks is that GWT moves the client's state down to the client, where it belongs.
If you look at most other Java web frameworks like that (e.g. Struts and it's direct competitors), they expend enormous effort porting data to and from the client, and trying to hack around the limitations of the HTML post operation - namely that blank values aren't returned (checkboxes!!) and that everything is passed as text (numbers!!). So what these other frameworks do is they end up making you write all these model objects, and then try to simulate the client state. JSF is the worst of these as it takes it the furthest, they're not just emulating the model, but also the view as well with their overly-complex de-hydration and re-hydration of components.
If you tell the client state to bugger off back to the client where it belongs, you save a good 30-40% of your typical web framework effort right there.
Eliminating Javascript browser/version idiosyncrasies saves you another 20-30% of your effort (more if the UI is very dynamic, less if it isn't).
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I think you're posting on the basis of assumptions you've made based on what you've heard about GWT, rather than experience with it.
Disclaimer: I've done GWT and I liked it.
I did not find any Java<->Javascript paradigm shift problem at all. You simply forget about the Javascript and just write Java.
The big benefit of using GWT over writing 'native' javascript is that you get the same behaviour on all browsers.
The big benefit of using GWT over using other java based web frameworks is that GWT moves the client's state down to the client, where it belongs.
If you look at most other Java web frameworks like that (e.g. Struts and it's direct competitors), they expend enormous effort porting data to and from the client, and trying to hack around the limitations of the HTML post operation - namely that blank values aren't returned (checkboxes!!) and that everything is passed as text (numbers!!). So what these other frameworks do is they end up making you write all these model objects, and then try to simulate the client state. JSF is the worst of these as it takes it the furthest, they're not just emulating the model, but also the view as well with their overly-complex de-hydration and re-hydration of components.
If you tell the client state to bugger off back to the client where it belongs, you save a good 30-40% of your typical web framework effort right there.
Eliminating Javascript browser/version idiosyncrasies saves you another 20-30% of your effort (more if the UI is very dynamic, less if it isn't).
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I think you're posting on the basis of assumptions you've made based on what you've heard about GWT, rather than experience with it.