Google's latest upgrades to GWT and its Eclipse plug-in provide more HTML5 functionality and improved access to Google services for developers using the Eclipse IDE.

Version 2.3 of Google Web Toolkit (GWT), Google's SDK for building Web applications adds local storage capabilities for HTML5, enabling the user to store data locally and work offline. As we reported in February, GWT 2.2 already supports HTML5 features such as Canvas and Audio/Video tags so the SDK is showing a decided tendency in favour of HTML5.

Google Plugin for Eclipse has tools to enable Java developers using the Eclipse IDE to design and deploy cloud-based applications. The upgraded plug-in, also labeled as version 2.3, integrates with Google APIs for Google services like calendar, contacts, and maps.

Chris Ramsdale, Google project manager for developer tools explained:

"We've reduced the friction [of] using Google APIs within Eclipse. Previously, developers had to go to a website, download a zip file, and import libraries into the IDE."

Also featured in the plug-in is the ability to import projects from the Google Project Hosting source code repository directly into the IDE. It also adds single sign-on capabilities allowing developers to sign on once and access multiple Google services, including Project Hosting or the Google App Engine cloud platform.

Both the Google Plugin for Eclipse and GWTSDK  2.3 Can be downloaded  from Google Web Toolkit Downloads.

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