How can designers work with Google Web toolkit?

Question

Some background, normally when I start a new project, a designer creates the HTML template, images, and css for it, and then passes it on to me. I then write the javascript and PHP code needed to get the site working.

However I'm considering moving to google web toolkit so I can code the site using Java rather than Javascript/PHP. The obstacle however, is how I would import the designer's HTML and CSS into GWT.

From what I've seen there doesn't seem to be any easy way of doing so? Alternatively if I coded everything in GWT first, and he was able to just style everything using CSS to make them look how he needs them to, that would also work. But would he be able to do that using just css alone?

Any ideas?

Answer 1

We are a one-designer two-programmer team and we have been having a great time with plain UiBinders, no GWT Designer involved. Our process has two basic modes:

1. The designer writes plain HTML and we convert it to UiBinder later, or
2. We make the basic UiBinder and he finishes it up with the necessary structure and Css.

We choose either mode based on how the chips fall in our design process. It's really natural and works great.

The designer had to learn:

• CssResources (e.g. addStyleNames='{resources.css.style}' instead of class='style')
• ImageResources (e.g. adding them to ClientBundles with the GPE)
• UiBinder syntax (e.g. <g:TextBox> instead of <input>)

It was pretty natural. The correlation to HTML and CSS is extremely high, and he can transfer his html/css skills directly to UiBinder.

I have no experience with GWT designer, but I see it as another tool in the middle of our process. Maybe it's worth it, but it's not so hard to avoid it. I used an early iteration right after it joined the official GWT repository and it was super obnoxious.

Answer 2

Pay attention to the GWT Designer. It's UI creating wizard that supports GWT. GWT Designer has visual tools to generate a code for you.