SmartGWT with GWT?

Question

Greetings , I have been using GWT for few weeks and wanted a rich Table widget.I came across with SmartGWT library. Can I use SmartGWT widgets same way I develop using GWT or is there any special things I need to know ?

thanks

Answer 1

Yes, you can adopt a single widget from SmartGWT, it does have caveats.

As another poster pointed out, you will be loading most of the core SmartClient runtime. You can avoid loading parts of the SmartClient runtime that you do not need by inheriting the SmartGwtNoScript module and including only the underlying SmartClient modules you actually use (basically Core, Foundation, Grids).

This is still going to be a large grid component, so think it through.

1. Are your users on high speed connections? Then they'll never notice, go for it.

2. Do they use the application for a while, or use it frequently? Then the one-time download is worth it because the SmartGWT grid does a good job of cutting down on network requests during actual use:

   http://www.smartclient.com/smartgwt/showcase/#grid_adaptive_filter_featured_category

3. Do you have end users that need or could use 'livegrid'-style load on demand, full-row customizable inline editing, frozen columns, dynamic grouping, adaptive inline filtering, expandable rows, maybe some combination of these features all at once? Then it's worth it in order to deliver a better application, make users more productive or sell more product.

4. Just need a basic table display? Then yes, it's overkill.

The poster that said this is not possible was factually incorrect and that answer should be voted down.