embrace

Embrace native web APIs from GWT by generating JSInterop stubs from WebIDL definitions.

The project consists of three sub-projects:

tools - contains command line tools for converting WebIDL to JsInterop source files.
webapis - a GWT module containing JSInterop stubs for a selection of HTML5 APIs (similar to Elemental)
examples - small examples of what you can do with the project currently

Taking it for a spin

./gradlew :webapis:jar
./gradlew :examples:gwtc
./gradlew :examples:run

and point your browser to http://localhost:8080/examples/com.giddyplanet.embrace.examples.Examples/

Project Philosophy

The GWT team is working on a similar tool and Elemental 2.

I started this project because I was impatient and could not wait for Elemental 2. This project is all about quickly getting to a usable level that solves most cases, but it does not need to be perfect or complete.

Therefore the project has adopted some unusual conventions:

good enough is better than perfect
features are valued more than code quality
ignore corner cases that would slow down progress
it is perfectly fine to cut corners and commit code sins to get things rolling

It is a hobby project that I make for fun in my spare time. Suggestions, bug reports and pull request will be much appreciated!

Status

The project handles most WebIDL definition types and produces usable code. It has some rough edges and the code is a mess.

For example, the stubs generated by the webapis subproject allows you to do:

DOM manipulation and styling
attach event listeners
Draw 2D graphics with canvas
Communicate over web sockets
set timers
and much more ...

Noticeable missing features in the WebIDL parser

typedef - will currently be represented as Object
dictionary - will currently be represented as Object
union - will currently be represented as Object
promise - will currently be represented as Object
exception - ignored
numeric types may not get the best suitable Java representation
optional primitives are not represented as boxed types in Java

Notes

Workaround for unexpected WebIDL constructs in various specs
- Typed arrays specification states that ArrayBuffer implements Transferable, but Transferable is a typedef - not an interface.
- HTMLCollection.namedItem() return type (Node) is not compatible with HTMLFormControlsCollection.namedItem() return type (RadioNodeList or Element)

License