How to understand that a site is made by GWT?

Question

How can I see if a site is made by GWT or not?

In other words, how can I understand that a site is using GWT and what are the special features that are only in GWT and not in JS?

Answer 1

If you want to know if a site is using GWT, inspect the HTTP requests using FireBug, HTTPWatch, etc. If you see a file called <module name>.nocache.js - that is a clear sign the site has a GWT module in it. That file is the GWT bootloader script.

There is always the option that the site is compiled with GWT, but used indirectly in deploy-time so that you never see the GWT bootloading. But from my experience this is a rare case.

Regarding "special features" - your question doesn't really make sense. GWT is a framework which compiles (a subset of) Java into HTML and JS files.

Answer 2

GWT has no special features. It is "just" Java code compiled to Javascript code.

However, that is a little like saying that C has no special features C++ does not have. Everything you can do in C++, you can also do in C, but it may be harder and take more time.

It's the same with GWT, it lets you use Java language, tools and libraries for things which were previously for Javascript only. A larger selection of tools.

As Yuval A pointed out, you can inspect HTTP requests of the page with Live HTTP Headers, Firebug, HTTPWatch or more hard core software like Wireshark or TCPDump. A request for a file .nocache.js is typical for a site with GWT.

Also as Yuval pointed, this might miss some sites made with GWT, but will probably catch a great majority.