It is probably worth noting that while Google did drop GWT the compiler and runtime, they continue to ship GWT's JRE emulation in Google Sheets and Gmail (via J2CL and Closure Compiler) in decently large JS files, with a lot of other code that plausibly looks like it shares (1000+ classes each). Java's distinctive Object.toString() behavior makes it pretty easy to find in compiled JS. As Google has described in the past, this lets them write the core runtime for an app in a single language, Java, and translate to build the UI in the most appropriate language for the platform they are deploying to.
I'm not aware of many GWT apps that are being used like that, but there are some. For one of them, we built and open sourced https://github.com/Vertispan/jsinterop-ts-defs/ to do the opposite of what you're discussing with d3.js - take Java types with some JsInterop annotations, and generate .d.ts files from them. This way, JS/TS developers can import those types and get rich type information about the Java we compiled to JS. There are a few custom annotations that we've found helpful to add on, but for the most part this tool works with any GWT app using JsInterop to expose some classes/functions as a library. I don't think that is what Google is doing - mostly because they've historically resisted efforts to generate externs from JsInterop, preferring to read Closure-annotated JS and generate Java from it. It has worked well for us though, as there aren't a lot of JS/TS projects outside of Google that are suitable to being passed through Closure on their way to production. On Tuesday, December 9, 2025 at 5:46:54 PM UTC-6 [email protected] wrote: > Re: *Why did Google drop GWT for it to be superceded by this?* > > My 2 cents worth of guessing is that because GWT protects developers from > learning all about JS, developers might not get the most out of JS. Eg: A > Java developer sees no issue using integers, but JS doesn't support them, > so GWT adds complexity in JS to simulate them. Companies that want the > bleeding edge performance might not like this. > > But, as I said, I'm only guessing here, I've never worked at Google. > > On Wednesday, 10 December 2025 at 5:07:55 am UTC+11 Tim Macpherson wrote: > >> As a GWT user also using TS when necessary: >> refactoring: WWD in eclipse for TS, vs VScode, no noticeable >> difference ? essentially nothing useful in either ? >> Typing - all must be done manually, syntax is back to front: name then >> type. >> >> Why did Google drop GWT for it to be superceded by this? >> About the same time they were trying to launch Dart but that went nowhere >> afaik >> >> Yahoo Mail: Search, Organize, Conquer >> <https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&c=US_Acquisition_YMktg_315_SearchOrgConquer_EmailSignature&af_sub1=Acquisition&af_sub2=US_YMktg&af_sub3=&af_sub4=100002039&af_sub5=C01_Email_Static_&af_ios_store_cpp=0c38e4b0-a27e-40f9-a211-f4e2de32ab91&af_android_url=https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yahoo.mobile.client.android.mail&listing=search_organize_conquer> >> >> On Mon, Dec 8, 2025 at 11:47 PM, Craig Mitchell >> <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> I'm not sure I understand the question. I've used TS in one project, and >> GWT in another. Never in the same project. As far as static typing goes, >> Java (GWT) wins hands down, as it is a native to the language. >> >> On Sunday, 7 December 2025 at 6:13:13 am UTC+11 Tim Macpherson wrote: >> >> I'm using GWT and TS together, both involve static typing and ide support >> around that. Basic question is: does anyone else do this (I assume yes) and >> how do they compare? >> >> Yahoo Mail: Search, Organize, Conquer >> <https://mail.onelink.me/107872968?pid=nativeplacement&c=US_Acquisition_YMktg_315_SearchOrgConquer_EmailSignature&af_sub1=Acquisition&af_sub2=US_YMktg&af_sub3=&af_sub4=100002039&af_sub5=C01_Email_Static_&af_ios_store_cpp=0c38e4b0-a27e-40f9-a211-f4e2de32ab91&af_android_url=https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yahoo.mobile.client.android.mail&listing=search_organize_conquer> >> >> On Sat, Dec 6, 2025 at 9:43 AM, 'RobW' via GWT Users >> <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Question possibly of interest is how GWT stands against Typescript which >> seems to be now established as a front end standard. >> >> >> I'm really not sure why Typescript is relevant - if I were coding >> front-end in JS or TS, then yes I'd think about which syntax and features >> (type checking etc) were better. But in GWT I'm coding in Java. I don't >> really care what the compiles down to as long as it works. OK, when >> debugging I do see the JS output, but I'm never mod'ing that directly. On >> occasion, to use a lib, I'll quickly craft some JSNI bindings for the >> methods I need. But that's as close as I go to the JS layer. >> >> -- >> >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "GWT Users" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> >> To view this discussion visit >> >> >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/google-web-toolkit/73084908-7b51-456a-a241-3ce263ec7a72n%40googlegroups.com >> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/google-web-toolkit/73084908-7b51-456a-a241-3ce263ec7a72n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "GWT Users" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To view this discussion visit >> >> >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/google-web-toolkit/1bd9b354-b1c1-48cb-80a5-85cc7637bcaan%40googlegroups.com >> >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/google-web-toolkit/1bd9b354-b1c1-48cb-80a5-85cc7637bcaan%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> >> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "GWT Users" group. 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