Developing AJAX applications using Google Web Toolkit and JSON

Introduction to Google Web Toolkit and JSON

Google Web Toolkit (GWT) is a set of tools for developing AJAX programs that support developers using Java code to create AJAX applications.

JSON (JavaScript Object notation) is a lightweight data interchange format. It is a completely language-independent text format. And since JSON is a subset of JavaScript's object literal symbols, it is often used as a standard format for client and server-side data interchange in AJAX development.

This article will focus on using GWT, a powerful development kit, to develop AJAX applications that use JSON as a data interchange format.

Sample Programs

This article describes how you can use GWT and other open source tools to implement an AJAX application that dynamically displays the results of the current server-side unit test execution on a page. It will discuss how to transform and process JSON data using GWT and other open source tools.

Background information

When a developer submits a modified code to a code server, a regression test is often needed to test whether the newly submitted code can guarantee the quality of the product. Testers deploy test tools, version-controlled code, and operational testcases on the server side. When the code is updated, the tester initiates the regression unit test of the code, hoping to see the implementation of the server-side testcases in real time. However, the previous Web technology is difficult to achieve these goals, usually only after the completion of all the results can be a one-time see full results, or allow users to manually refresh the page in real time to view the results of server-side execution.

Using Ajax technology, you can realize the dynamic effect of real-time page refresh. GWT as an Ajax development tool, you can quickly and easily facilitate the development. Using JSON as a data interchange format for server-side and client communication, it is possible to define and deliver relatively complex structured data more clearly.

Architecture

Figure 1. System Architecture Diagram