Biography

Dr. Joonas Lehtinen is the founder of Vaadin project, a Java-based framework for building awesome web UI easily in Java. He is the founder and CEO of the company behind the Vaadin framework and leads a team of 80 engineers who are mostly working in European timezones. While not in a hangout to 10 time zones away from Vaadin’s Silicon Valley offices, Joonas keeps failing in getting rid of his Finnish accent.

What is new in Vaadin 7.2

Just released Vaadin 7.2 is the latest edition of the popular web framework that makes it possible to write HTML5 apps in Java. In this presentation we discuss three features in detail: Hybrid grid, parametrized themes and transparent server push already introduced in earlier Vaadin 7.1.

Fully redesigned data grid component works both on the server-side as well as on the client-side using GWT. The goal has been to bring in the best data-grid component in any web framework and make it highly customizable. It supports everything between lazy loading, hierarchies, customizable data source cache strategies and lightweight cell rendering. Design and application possibilities are discussed in detail.

Newly introduced parametrized theme allows one to build look and feels from Metro to Eclipse in one SASS based theme. Use of theme as a basis for your own applications is demonstrated and examples for what can be achieved are looked into.

Vaadin 7.1 introduced automated server-push that would allow use of websockets and http streaming just by adding one @Push annotation. This is demonstrated and built in RPC and state synchronization communications are discussed.

It is assumed that you know something about Vaadin before the session. Diving into the latest big features in Vaadin allows one to learn about the direction of developing web apps in Java.

Introduction to Vaadin

Vaadin is a popular web framework that makes it possible to write rich user interfaces in server-side Java. Writing an application that lazily loads large amounts of data from the server, includes drag-and-drop, keyboard navigation and compelling visualizations would not require writing any HTML, JavaScript or resigning a REST API. While the server centric development model provides the best productivity, Vaadin also supports client-side development though the GWT based Java to JavaScript compiler as well as JavaScript. The default looks of the application can be customized with CSS and SASS.

The presentation gives an overview to Vaadin and explain how it works. We’ll also discuss on what are the latest new features of Vaadin and how the roadmap looks. The session should give you everything you need to get started building your own apps with the free Apache-licensed Vaadin.