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I'm trying to build a slick-looking GWT panel (my first one) and am stuck trying to decide how to handle its layout.

According to the Layout Javadoc:

Helper class for laying out a container element and its children.

And the LayoutPanel Javadoc:

A panel that lays its children out in arbitrary layers using the Layout class.

So it seems like you can:

  • Extend a ComplexPanel and use a Layout to manage its layout; or
  • Use a LayoutPanel which seems to have this functionality built-in; or
  • Just add elements to an HTMLPanel and use CSS to perform all the positioning/layout

I'm not 100% sure, but this feels like you have these options (and possibly others) because they offer benefits over each other in different circumstances, or because the GWT API has changed a lot and newer layout methods have been added over time.

If the former is the case, then security and performance are my only priorities, so I ask: is one method more performant and/or secure than the others? And if the latter is the case, then which method is GWT's newest and most encouraged? It would seem to me that the most control would be to leave everything for the CSS and not use Layout/LayoutPanel at all!

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LayoutPanel uses absolute positioning, and it also provides size to its children. I like to use it for my outmost layout container, as it occupies the entire browser window and resizes its children when that browser window is resized.

For inside widgets (e.g. menus, main area) many people like to use VerticalPanel and HorizontalPanel (or, even LayoutPanel) for their simplicity. I avoid using these panels as they offer rigid, table-based layout. I prefer to use either HTMLPanel or FlowPanel, and achieve the desired layout through CSS.

Note that I would not use "old" or "new" attributes when discussing the pros and cons of different panels. They all translate into standard HTML. If you are comfortable with CSS (a lot of developers aren't), then you should use CSS as much as possible, because this is what browsers are optimized to do, and because you can build more fluid, consistent and future-proof (i.e. much easier to change) layouts with it.

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What kind of app are you building?

  • Do you need 'user-positioned splitters' between panels?
  • Do you need separate scrolling panels?

If not, stick with CSS.

Start with an HTML/CSS mockup and then convert that to a GWT UiBinder file. Particularly when it comes to responsive web design, you can get a HUGE HEAD START by starting with an off-the-shelf CSS framework like Twitter Bootstrap.

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