Why are there so few open source GWT apps?

Question

Something I have found strange since I started working on GWT is how few open source projects there are in this technology.

Initially I was surprised to discover this mainly because GWT itself is open source. But after puzzling over this, my suspicion is that it is mainly used for internal projects by large corporations who already use Java and are using GWT for their RIAs instead of Flex or Rails. My understanding is that large corporations that use Java would tend to have lower contributions to open source because their focus is mainly on internal or commercial applications.

Does this sound like an accurate interpretation or does anyone have a different explanation for this phenomenon?

Answer 1

It actually seems quite reasonable to me that corporations, particularly those who use closed source, would favor GWT more than open-source developers, for exactly the reasons related to those mentioned in the question:

• They already use Java, and in particular have experienced Java developers
• There is a perceived (and sometimes real) higher cost in supporting multiple languages
• Management is reluctant to add either another bullet point on job postings (must know Javascript) or send developers to training

Open-source developers, on the other hand, are often hobbyists (though not always), and hobbyists tend to be more interested in picking up new technologies "for the fun of it." Thus a hobbyist would be more open to writing Javascript directly, probably with the aid of a Javascript framework that doesn't involve translating from some other source language.

Specifically concerning source language translation, it's a leaky abstraction. Eventually you're probably going to want to drop down into "raw" Javascript, and it's easier to do in an environment where you're already writing JS than one in which you're writing Java that gets translated.

Answer 2

I think you are right, but you might want to add in a couple more factors:

GWT is fairly young

OpenSource programmers work in their language of choice, and for small 1-person projects, Java can be a little uncomfortable if you don't already know it (I'm the biggest Java fan around, but everything has it's limitations).

Java isn't really a great choice for web front-ends, so even though GWT is a great solution for that, it wouldn't ever be more attractive than rails to a very small development team.

Answer 3

Perhaps because GWT leverages javascript and Richard Stallman isn't a fan.

Answer 4

Personally, I've avoided GWT for projects I want to open source because I've found it tricky to use it for Test Driven Development in Eclipse. I wouldn't do open source any other way these days.

There must be ways to get it working, but it resisted all my attempts, so I just switched to a different technology.