GWT compilation on the fly

Question

Is there a way to run Google Web Toolkit compiler directly from Java code to compile the source code made on the fly? In the same manner as javax.tools for example.

Answer 1

GWT compiles all sources at once, because it compiles the result in one file and performs a lot of optimizations, like leaving out methods not used and inline methods to minimize the total size of the JavaScript file generated. A compilation step is therefor takes some time, so compilation on the fly would not be a workable solution.

Answer 2

I think so: com.google.gwt.dev.Compiler has a main method. Either call that method directly, or look into its code, and you should be able to build the CompilerOptions etc. yourself.

When you create a GWT project using webAppCreator, you get a build.xml with a gwtc target. This should help you with the classpath and the arguments you need to run the compiler.