Getting into new environment of web development. Now that I have learned many languages and done some good bit of coding on desktop its really a high time for me to start with this web dev thingy.
Of course I wasn't a total noob in web arena.(I knew html :D ) I started poking around here and there on web ,with some knowledgeable friends and zeroed in on Google app engine along with Google Web Toolkit for my first web application.
For starters GAE is a platform that can be used to deploy your application on Google infrastructure. Google takes care of everything for your application, no servers to manage ,no scaling problem, nothing. It can be programmed in either jvm based language --java,jsp, ruby or using python. It can be used for free for moderate use (5 million page views) and pay according to resources used thereafter. It is just as cool as it gets.
As for GWT , its one of those great things that Google has done. Its well known applications include newer version of AdSense and Google Waves. This technology is especially designed for java developers and I bet they love it. Major advantage is that you are not required to be expert in browser quirks and no separate testing is required for each browser (don't need to worry about IE6 compatibility :D ). And you have all the advantages that java coding offers and disadvantages too (for some people).
Now the combination Gwt and Gae is great. You can develop and deploy great,scalable applications for free at the start. You get a plugin for eclipse- Google plugin for eclipse, which makes it very easy to develop, manage and deploy any such project.
I have started working on it, and as I have the library ready for use at the back-end, my first web application in going to be an Ajax based, sudoku puzzle generator and solver. Currently using free domain from google - My sudoku app.
