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ZK vs. GWT Evaluation

asked 2010-07-15 15:31:34 +0800

eptx gravatar image eptx
130 3

I've read through zkoss.org and other internet sources to find what I could about evaluating these two frameworks for our project. I'd like to hear any up-to-date info from those with experience with both frameworks. Here is the scenario:
- Large conservative organization
- Enterprise web app, not public facing, behind firewall
- Several hundred concurrent users
- Users world wide, some over high latency, low bandwidth connections
- Mostly Java/Spring shop replacing JSF with Spring/MVC and or GWT
- ZK is not approved but could be (with some effort/risk) if gap by other frameworks is clear for this project
- Users use app to manage information on 10's of millions of accounts
- Need fast, efficient operation for users active 8 hr/day
- Workflow is moderate-complex (not like a trading app, but not a simple app either)
- Replacing Oracle forms application
- Need stable, long-term platform 5-10+ years
- Web app will wrap a business library (Java) that contains all db, jms, security, business logic, etc. (Easy to use library in many scenarios)
- Need to support many writing systems
- Highly secure

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answered 2010-07-16 01:26:41 +0800

vinhvo gravatar image vinhvo
369 3

I would recommend Vaadin (GWT based but much more simple) and the Apache license is definitely better than ZK 's LGPL version(with lot of standard things get removed).

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answered 2010-07-16 08:58:01 +0800

caclark gravatar image caclark
1753 2 5
http://clarktrips.intltwi...

If you want to do all of your UI creation in Java, you can do that in ZK and must do it that way Vaadin. If you want like declarative UI layout, ZK is a great way to go.

I wrote an app 3 years ago using OpenLaszlo but rewrote it 2 years ago with ZK and have never regretted it. I've also done a lot of Spring MVC using JSP's as the view layer in other projects. I still use the IOC part of Spring to inject services into ZK composers acting as my controllers. I would rate my application much like yours on the complexity scale. Certainly far more than a CRUD app, but not the most intense trading app, either. It runs behind a firewall inside a public school system, but it doesn't have as many simultaneous users as yours does.

The nice thing about ZK is that it's "AJAX" to the core. Events from the UI to your controllers require little bandwidth. Of course, when you send a page full of data to the browser, that will use more. Using paging, though, lightens that load. I can't speak to GWT's architecture and network load because I haven't used it.

Also, I can't speak for certain because I'm not a Potix employee, but I think you'll see ZK streaming GWT JS in the near future.

If you want to discuss more, we can connect offline.

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answered 2010-07-21 03:21:05 +0800

zero5 gravatar image zero5
75

updated 2010-07-21 03:23:38 +0800

I tried Vaadin a couple months ago when it showed up in the horizon. I don't like it. It is immature, and much less functionality. The real problem is that it doesn't really reveal the power of GWT, though they market for it. For example, you have no control of GWT in the browser at all -- they are some UI objects isolating GWT from you; you can't write any GWT code (running in the client). I also failed to integrate other GWT components (ExtGWT), since Vaadin has a complete different lifecycle.

@vinhvo, Apache beter than LGPL? Why? They are both free to use and to distribute.

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Asked: 2010-07-15 15:31:34 +0800

Seen: 1,089 times

Last updated: Jul 21 '10

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