The GWT (Google Web Toolkit) is a Java software development framework that simplifies writing AJAX applications such as Google Maps and Gmail for developers who are not steeped in JavaScript or the nuances of all the different browsers, the company said.

"Google Web Toolkit combines our years of experience creating AJAX applications like Gmail, Google Maps and Google Calendar, with a number of smart development tools to solve many of the problems typically associated with writing AJAX code," said a Google statement describing the technology.

The toolkit includes a Java-to-JavaScript compiler, built-in PRC (remote procedure call) support, and Java debugging support, the company said.

The Google Web Toolkit also features reusable user interface components and browser history management, so AJAX applications do not break the browser's back button—a common complaint among AJAX developers when building applications.

And the GWT compiler translates a Java application to browser-compliant JavaScript and HTML, the company said.

Moreover, GWT lets Java developers use their favorite Java development environment, be it Eclipse, JBuilder, IntelliJ or NetBeans, to write and debug an application in Java.

Then GWT translates the application to JavaScript for use in a browser.

The GWT-translated application then runs in either hosted or web mode.

In hosted mode, the application runs as Java bytecode within the JVM (Java Virtual Machine), Google officials said.

In Web mode, the application runs as pure JavaScript and HTML, compiled from the original Java source code with the GWT Java-to-JavaScript compiler, the company said.

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