Google Releases AJAX Framework Beta

Google on Wednesday released an open AJAX framework that will enable developers to build Web applications like Google Maps and Calendar. The Google Web Toolkit beta, available free of charge, is based on Java and works with any Java development tool.

GWT joins Google's growing repository of code, which includes a number of APIs and development kits. "When you deploy your application to production, the GWT compiler simply translates your Java application to browser-compliant JavaScript and HTML," explains product manager Bret Taylor. GWT can be downloaded from Google Code.