The Google Web Toolkit is a free and open-source toolkit for building Ajax applications using Java. It is the single-most important new Ajax toolkit introduced in the last several years, but it uses a drastically different approach than the other toolkits such as jQuery, Prototype, Scriptaculous, Dojo, Ext-JS, or YUI. As a result, it is difficult for traditional Ajax developers to understand how to use GWT effectively. Furthermore, GWT 2.1 introduced many changes and new features, so even programmers who used previous GWT releases need a fast-moving primer to get them up to speed with GWT 2.1. This course provides a practical, hands-on introduction to building Ajax-enabled applications with GWT 2.1. In each section, it gives details on the most important topics, surveys more advanced or lesser-used topics, stresses best practices, and gives plenty of working examples. Each section is followed by a series of hands-on exercises to reinforce the concepts. There are a choice of exercises of varying complexity so as to accommodate developers with various levels of expertise and previous experience.

Coreservlets normally runs on-site training courses at customer locations. This is easier administratively, is better for clients since the topics and schedule can be customized, and is more cost effective for students since no travel is required. However, due to demand from those who do not have enough students for an on-site course, Yaakov will be a running public (open enrollment) GWT training course May 16-19 at the Johns Hopkins Dorsey Center in Elkridge MD.

Yaakov Chaikin is a senior enterprise architect and software developer with a Columbia, Maryland consulting firm. His expertise and experience includes involvement in all phases of the software development lifecycle, from requirements gathering and architecture design to implementation using some of the latest technologies. Yaakov is also an experienced instructor: he leads the Web development track of the graduate computer science program at Loyola University and teaches Web development courses in the graduate computer science program of Johns Hopkins University. Yaakov got involved in GWT very early on, and developed and released his own MVP, RPC, and browser history management framework as an open source project. Yaakov is a co-author of Volume II of Core Servlets and Javaserver Pages: Advanced Technologies, along with Marty Hall and Larry Brown. He can be reached at yaakov@coreservlets.com.

The course consists of an approximately equal mixture of lecture and hands-on lab time and assumes that all students have strong Java skills. It does not assume any previous exposure to GWT or Ajax, nor does it presume JavaScript knowledge.

The course will be held at the Johns Hopkins Dorsey Center in Elkridge, Maryland. This is a modern, comfortable venue with separate computers for each student, fast internet connections, and with coffee, snacks, and meals included. Class meets from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm daily. For students who prefer to bring their own laptops, fast wifi is available, and you can email the instructor for information on installing the class software in advance.

For Maryland residents, the location is centrally located 5 minutes from BWI airport and has plenty of free parking. For out-of-town students, there are many hotels within 1 mile.

The four-day course costs $1995 per student and includes an extensive course notebook, a commercial textbook, exercises, exercise solutions, breakfast, snacks, and lunch. Compare this price to courses from Sun, Learning Tree, GlobalKnowledge, and Oracle University that cost around $2400 for four-day courses and $3000 for five-day courses that do not include textbooks or meals. Besides, those courses almost always use an unknown instructor who did not develop the course materials and often lacks significant real-world development experience.

To register, fill out and send in the course registration form. Space is limited: five previous offerings of coreservlets.com courses were full. Bonus: Register at least a week in advance and get a $50 gift certificate from amazon.com.

Want details on the topics? See the detailed curriculum below. Have questions on the topics even after reading that? Email the instructor at yaakov@coreservlets.com. Want information on the instructor? See this brief bio. Want to register? See the course registration form. Registration questions? Email the registrar at registrar@coreservlets.com or phone (410) 429-5535.

Guinea pigs? No! Coreservlets.com courses are well-tested, having been taught in 8 countries and dozens of US venues. We don't use your developers as guinea pigs for new materials. Regurgitation? No! Yaakov developed all his own materials. No contract instructor regurgitating memorized PowerPoint slides. Green? No! Yaakov is an experienced GWT developer, and is the author of a popular Java EE text from Prentice Hall. The course gives best practices and real-world strategies. No newbie instructor dodging tough questions.

Course now includes new GWT 2.1 features

• GWT Overview: Overview, Pros/Cons, Installation, Setup
• GWT Basics: Building and Deploying Apps, Basic Structure
• Widget Event Handling
• Accessing Server Data with GWT RPC
• Advanced RPC and Server Data Handling
• Laying Out Windows with Panels: Part I (Basic Panels)
• Laying Out Windows with Panels: Part II (Composite Panels)
• History Handling: Dealing with the Back Button and Bookmarks
• More GWT Widgets
• Ext GWT: Panels and Windows
• Ext GWT: Widgets
• Ext GWT: Charts
• Wrapping Existing JavaScript Libraries with JSNI