In the beginning...

What's all this then?

I need to bring my web development skills up to date, instead of living in the all raw-HTML-only-static-pages past.  After doing some research, I liked what I read about Google App Engine (GAE), as well as Google Web Toolkit (GWT).  Especially that, right now, it will let me focus on the code instead of managing the servers.

Oh, and I can use Java for both the client and server.

I volunteer at a local non-profit, where volunteers track their time with pen and paper, and our contact information is gathered once when we sign up, and then never updated.  The hours have to be manually transcribed into a spreadsheet, and it makes it hard to run reports or gather statistics.  This seemed like an ideal project that shouldn't take forever, but also should get into the meat of the two products.

OK, but what's the deal with the blog?

Sometimes I work late, and have trouble remembering the next day exactly what I had tried, what research I had done and its conclusions, or just where I am in the project.  I usually document this stuff in a text file.  While researching best practices for GAE/GWT, I wanted a site that chronicled the creation of an application from the beginning.  Initially I didn't find any.  I based my knowledge of best practices on the famous and excellent Google I/O talk: GWT App Architecture Best Practices by Ray Ryan.  It's invaluable.

Later, I did come across a GWT/GAE Development Blog that seems like a good introduction, though I haven't worked through much of it yet.  I'm sure I'll use it as a reference as I learn.

But I want to chronicle the fits and starts, both the good and bad ideas, the failures, the dead ends, the screw ups; and then hopefully successes.

Basic project details

I haven't decided on a name yet, so I'll just call it "the project" for now.  It will be hosted on github, as I like git's branching and DCVS model.  I'll use Java in Eclipse Helios as the language, but still access git from the command line, since I've had plenty of problems with the git plug-in.  I will probably use the Gin and Guice libraries, and base my MVP design around the gwt-presenter and gwt-dispatch libraries, though they look like they haven't been updated in a while.

For testing the pages I'll use the Google plug-in for Eclipse, as well as the Speed Tracer, Firebug, etc.

Enough procrastinating...