I actually tend to agree with Authur here, that in gwt-incubator we have widgets at different stages in the pipeline and while some we don't want users to touch, others are much more stable, and would benefit from wider user distribution and are at least as good, or better, then almost any other available gwt library.
As widgets are moved into gen2, they are being all given default style sheets though improvements are always appreciated. Internally, we've started to toy with the idea of labeling widgets/libraries: Here is the initial proposal 1. @ReleaseCandidate: This widget has been slotted for a GWT release. Its bug reports are taken as seriously as any normal gwt widgets and its API is less likely to change. 2. @Beta: This is a widget intended for wide distribution and is being actively supported by at least one developer. The code should be reasonably bug free as well. 3. @DoNotUse or no tag: Don't use, is either in the process of being dropped from incubator or is still in alpha. Also, here is my wish list of things I'd love to get volunteers for: - A maven repository to pick up the most recent gwt-incubator + gwt-trunk milestone build. If possible, would also create a nightly build as well. - Some sort of ant/python/shell/ script that crawls through the new src-demo and automatically builds all the demos there. We could then use that to easily publish on google app engine up-to-date demos for all incubator widgets before each public drop. - Someone to go through the documentation, fix what can be easily fixed, and then e-mail out those widgets/libraries whose documentation need serious attention. - Also, someone who would be willing to go through the current demos and improve them/flag developers if they are missing and/or just suck. - Finally, if people could nominate widgets they would like to see leave incubator, that would be very helpful as well! On Fri, Oct 10, 2008 at 4:57 PM, Arthur Kalmenson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: > > OK that makes sense. Maybe we need a project that's in between > incubator and GWT, something that has regular releases and uses > polished content from the incubator but content that's not so polished > that it would go into GWT. While what's in the incubator is a work in > progress, it is still a) much faster then what the other libraries > offer, b) mostly cleaner and better written then the other libraries, > c) gives people an idea of where GWT is headed. > > While making custom widgets is easy in GWT, there is a lot of overlap > in what people need and there is usually a rich suite of widgets that > people would like out of the box. It's not very easy to pick up GWT > and dive in making great and interactive apps. There's a lot of group > work that needs to be done to build rich widgets. It seems a waste > that this group work is done on every GWT project by all the various > organizations that use GWT. I know that the GWT team said GWT was > meant to be pretty low level and they wanted the community to build on > top of that, but it seems that the community is not delivering. I know > Bruce mentioned that better widgets are on the agenda, so I don't > know.... > > Regards, > Arthur Kalmenson > > On Oct 10, 4:36 pm, "Isaac Truett" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > We don't want people to be afraid of the Incubator, but we do want them > to > > be cautious. It isn't a library per se, but a workshop for ideas. Things > in > > the Incubator may be half finished or in the middle of refurbishing at > any > > given time. It's an environment where you may have to get your hands > dirty. > > It's not something that all GWT users will have the patience or risk > > tolerance for. > > Improving the contents of the Incubator is, of course, important. That's > > what it's there for. But I would expect that as things are "cleaned up" > > they'll be promoted to the main GWT project or spun off into separate > > libraries. What's left in the Incubator will always be works-in-progress. > > > > On Fri, Oct 10, 2008 at 4:15 PM, Arthur Kalmenson <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >wrote: > > > > > > > > > Hello everyone, > > > > > There was some discussion on the IRC channel about this, and I figured > > > I'd put it up for everyone here. > > > > > I think that the incubator has a lot of useful things (FooBundle, > > > CssResource, DatePicker), a lot of great ideas (Declarative UI) and > > > some not so great things (PagingScrollTable). The incubator has a lot > > > of potential, it just needs some polish and promotion. I think it > > > needs the following: > > > > > 1. Better and nicer examples of widgets and use of some nice CSS (just > > > use one of the GWT themes). > > > 2. Clean up the existing widgets and make them easier to use. > > > 3. A showcase to show off all these widgets and make them accessible > > > like the main GWT showcase. > > > 4. Promoting incubator as a great resource on the regular GWT group > > > and on the main GWT site. > > > > > As it stands right now, few people know about the incubator and those > > > that do are usually scared away. Most people end up going to widget > > > libraries like ExtGWT and others. Just about every widget library I've > > > seen is poorly done and ends up giving GWT a really bad name (ExtGWT > > > especially). I think the incubator can offer a much better and cleaner > > > widget library and components, but it needs to be cleaned up and > > > promoted so more people contribute and give feedback. > > > > > What do you think? > > > > > Regards, > > > Arthur Kalmenson > > > -- "There are only 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't" --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ http://groups.google.com/group/Google-Web-Toolkit-Contributors -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
