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Vaadin

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Vaadin
Developer(s)Vaadin Ltd.
Stable release24.4.5 (July 8, 2024; 15 days ago (2024-07-08)[1]) [±]

23.4.0 (evergreen) (March 7, 2024; 4 months ago (2024-03-07)[2]) [±]

14.11.11 (LTS, no feature updates) (June 3, 2024; 50 days ago (2024-06-03)[3]) [±]
RepositoryVaadin Repository
Written inJava, JavaScript
PlatformCross platform
TypeWeb framework
LicenseApache License 2.0
Websitevaadin.com

Vaadin (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈʋɑːdin]) is an open-source web application development platform for Java. Vaadin includes a set of Web Components, a Java web framework, and a set of tools that enable developers to implement modern web graphical user interfaces (GUI) using the Java programming language only (instead of HTML and JavaScript), TypeScript only, or a combination of both.

History

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Development was first started as an adapter on top of the Millstone 3 open-source web framework released in the year 2002. It introduced an Ajax-based client communication and rendering engine. During 2006 this concept was then developed separately as a commercial product. As a consequence of this, a large part of Vaadin's server-side API is still compatible with Millstone's Swing-like APIs.

In early 2007 the product name was changed to IT Mill Toolkit and version 4 was released. It used a proprietary JavaScript Ajax-implementation for the client-side rendering, which made it rather complicated to implement new widgets. By the end of the year 2007 the proprietary client-side implementation was abandoned and GWT was integrated on top of the server-side components. At the same time, the product license was changed to the open source Apache License 2.0. The first production-ready release of IT Mill Toolkit 5 was made on March 4, 2009, after an over one year beta period.

On September 11, 2008, it was publicly announced[4][5] that Michael Widenius–the main author of the original version of MySQL–invested in IT Mill, the Finnish developer of Vaadin.[6] The size of the investment is undisclosed.

On May 20, 2009, IT Mill Toolkit changed its name to Vaadin Framework. The name originates from the Finnish word for doe, more precisely put, a female reindeer. It can also be translated from Finnish as "I insist". In addition to the name change, a pre-release of version 6 along with a community website was launched. Later, IT Mill Ltd, the company behind the open source Vaadin Framework, changed its name to Vaadin Ltd.

On March 30, 2010, Vaadin Directory was opened. It added a channel for distributing add-on components to the core Vaadin Framework, both for free or commercially. On launch date, there were 95 add-ons already available for download.[7]

Release history
LTS Version Release date Notes and new features since the previous LTS version launch
6 20 May 2009 Initial release
7 3 February 2013
8 21 February 2017 Improvements include a re-written data binding API that uses modern Java features such as type parameters and lambda expressions, and more efficient memory and CPU usage.[8]
10 25 June 2018 It's possible to use Vaadin's UI components from any technology compatible with Web Components. Vaadin Directory adds Web Components distribution. Vaadin Flow—the next generation of Vaadin Framework—was presented as a server-side Java web framework on top of Vaadin's UI components.[9]
14 14 August 2019 New UI components, CDI and OSGi support, Gradle integration, dynamic registration of routes, keyboard shortcuts API, support for npm and Bower.[10]
23 1 March 2022 New release model.[11] New UI components, reworked design system, feature flags, npm is now the default package manager.[12]

Vaadin Flow (Java API)

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Vaadin Flow (formerly Vaadin Framework) is a Java web framework for building web applications and websites. Vaadin Flow's programming model allows developers to use Java as the programming language for implementing User Interfaces (UIs) without having to directly use HTML or JavaScript. Vaadin Flow features a server-side architecture which means that most of the UI logic runs securely on the server reducing the exposure to attackers. On the client-side, Vaadin Flow is built on top of Web Component standards. The client/server communication is automatically handled through WebSocket or HTTP with light JSON messages that update both, the UI in the browser and the UI state in the server.

Vaadin Flow's Java API includes classes such as TextField, Button, ComboBox, Grid, and many others that can be configured, styled, and added into layout objects instances of classes such as VerticalLayout, HorizontalLayout, SplitLayout, and others. Behaviour is implemented by adding listeners to events such as clicks, input value changes, and others. Views are created by custom Java classes that implement another UI component (custom or provided by the framework). This view classes are annotated with @Route to expose them to the browser with a specific URL. The following example illustrates these concepts: 

@Route("hello-world") // exposes the view through http://localhost:8080/hello-world
public class MainView extends VerticalLayout { // extends an existing UI component

    public MainView() {
        // creates a text field
        TextField textField = new TextField("Enter your name");

        // creates a button
        Button button = new Button("Send");
        
        // adds behaviour to the button using the click event
        button.addClickListener(event ->
                add(new Paragraph("Hello, " + textField.getValue()))
        );

        // adds the UI components to the view (VerticalLayout)
        add(textField, button);
    }
}

The following is a screenshot of the previous example:

Hilla (TypeScript API)

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Hilla (formerly Vaadin Fusion) is a web framework that integrates Spring Boot Java backends with reactive front ends implemented in TypeScript. This combination offers a fully type-safe development platform by combining server-side business logic in Java and type-safety in the client side with the TypeScript programming language. Views are implemented using Lit—a lightweight library for creating Web Components. The following is an example of a basic view implemented with Hilla:

@customElement('hello-world-view')
export class HelloWorldView extends LitElement {
  render() {
    return html`
      <div>
        <vaadin-text-field label="Your name"></vaadin-text-field>
        <vaadin-button @click="${this.sayHello}">Say hello</vaadin-button>
      </div>
    `;
  }

  sayHello() {
    showNotification('Hello!');
  }
}

Vaadin's UI components

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Vaadin includes a set of User Interface (UI) components implemented as Web Components. These components include a server-side Java API (Vaadin Flow) but can also be used directly in HTML documents as well. Vaadin's UI components work with mouse and touch events, can be customized with CSS, are compatible with WAI-ARIA, include keyboard and screen readers support, and support right-to-left languages.

The following table shows a list of the UI components included in Vaadin:

Vaadin components
Java class HTML element name Description License
Accordion vaadin-accordion A vertically stacked set of expandable panels Apache 2.0
Anchor a Allows navigation to a given URL Apache 2.0
AppLayout vaadin-app-layout A common application layout structure Apache 2.0
Avatar vaadin-avatar A graphical representation of a person Apache 2.0
(not available) vaadin-badge A coloured text element for labelling content Apache 2.0
Board vaadin-board-row Layout component for building responsive views Commercial
Button vaadin-button Allows users to perform actions Apache 2.0
Crud vaadin-crud A component to manage Create, Read, Update, and Delete operations Commercial
Chart vaadin-chart Interactive charts with different types such as bar, pie, line, and others Commercial
Checkbox vaadin-checkbox An input field representing a binary choice Apache 2.0
Combo box vaadin-combo-box Shows a list of items that can be filtered Apache 2.0
ConfirmDialog vaadin-confirm-dialog A modal Dialog used to confirm user actions Apache 2.0
ContextMenu vaadin-context-menu A menu that appears on right-click or long touch press Apache 2.0
CookieConsent vaadin-cookie-consent A banner that to comply with privacy laws such as GDPR and CCPA Commercial
CustomField vaadin-custom-field A component for wrapping multiple components as a single field Apache 2.0
DatePicker vaadin-date-picker Allows to enter a date by typing or by selecting from a calendar overlay Apache 2.0
DateTimePicker vaadin-date-time-picker An input field for selecting both a date and a time Apache 2.0
Details vaadin-details An expandable panel for showing and hiding content Apache 2.0
Dialogvaadin-dialog A popup window to show other components in an overlay Apache 2.0
EmailField vaadin-email-field A text field that only accepts email addresses as input Apache 2.0
Form layout vaadin-form-layout A layout for building responsive forms with multiple columns Apache 2.0
Grid vaadin-grid Data grid or data table component for tabular data Apache 2.0
GridPro vaadin-grid-pro Provides inline editing with full keyboard navigation Commercial
HorizontalLayout vaadin-horizontal-layout Places components side-by-side in a row Apache 2.0
Icon iron-icon Shows a custom icon or from a collection of 600+ icons (VaadinIcons enum) Apache 2.0
Image img Shows an image from a resource file or from binary data generated at runtime Apache 2.0
ListBox vaadin-list-box Allows to select one or more values from a scrollable list of items Apache 2.0
LoginForm vaadin-login-form A component that contains a login form Apache 2.0
LoginOverlay vaadin-login-overlay A modal or full-screen login form Apache 2.0
MenuBar vaadin-menu-bar A horizontal button bar with hierarchical drop-down menus Apache 2.0
MessageList vaadin-message-list A component for displaying messages and building chats and comment sections Apache 2.0
Notificationvaadin-notificationOverlay component used to provide feedback to the userApache 2.0
NumberField vaadin-number-field A text field that only accepts numeric input (decimal, integral, or big decimal) Apache 2.0
PasswordField vaadin-password-field An input field for entering passwords masked by default Apache 2.0
ProgressBar vaadin-progress-bar Shows the completion status of a task or process Apache 2.0
Radio button vaadin-radio-button Allows to select exactly one value from a list of related but mutually exclusive options Apache 2.0
RichTextEditor vaadin-rich-text-editor An input field for entering rich text Commercial
Scroller vaadin-scroller A component container for creating scrollable areas in the UI Apache 2.0
Select vaadin-select An input field component for choosing a single value from a set of options Apache 2.0
SplitLayout vaadin-split-layout A component with two content areas and a draggable split handle between them Apache 2.0
Tabs vaadin-tabs Organize and group content into sections Apache 2.0
TextArea vaadin-text-area An input field component for multi-line text input Apache 2.0
TextField vaadin-text-field A component for introducing and editing text Apache 2.0
TimePicker vaadin-time-picker An input field for entering or selecting a specific time Apache 2.0
TreeGrid vaadin-grid A component for displaying hierarchical tabular data grouped into expandable and collapsible nodes Apache 2.0
Uploadvaadin-uploadA component for uploading one or more files with upload progress and statusApache 2.0
VerticalLayout vaadin-vertical-layout Places components top-to-bottom in a column Apache 2.0

Certifications

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Vaadin offers two certification tracks to prove that a developer is proficient with Vaadin Flow:[13]

  • Certified Vaadin 14 Developer
  • Certified Vaadin 14 Professional

To pass the certification, a developer should go through the documentation, follow the training videos, and take an online test.

Previous (now unavailable) certifications included:

  • Vaadin Online Exam for Vaadin 7 Certified Developer
  • Vaadin Online Exam for Vaadin 8 Certified Developer

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Release Vaadin 24.4.5 · vaadin/platform · GitHub". GitHub. Retrieved 2024-07-08.
  2. ^ "Release Vaadin 23.4.0 · vaadin/platform · GitHub". GitHub. Retrieved 2024-03-07.
  3. ^ "Release Vaadin 14.11.11 · vaadin/platform · GitHub". GitHub. Retrieved 2024-06-03.
  4. ^ "Michael "Monty" Widenius investing in Finnish IT Mill". Invest in Finland. Archived from the original on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
  5. ^ Asay, Matt. "Monty Widenius invests in Act II: IT Mill". CNET News. Archived from the original on 2016-03-11. Retrieved 2009-01-31.
  6. ^ Sani, Ilari (10 March 2009). "IT Mill, avointa Ajaxia Suomesta". Tivi [fi] (in Finnish). Alma Media. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  7. ^ "Vaadin Directory Opens its Doors". vaadin.com. Retrieved 2021-09-07.
  8. ^ Vaadin. "Vaadin releases Vaadin Framework 8". www.prnewswire.com (Press release).
  9. ^ Vaadin. "Vaadin modernizes Java development with its biggest release to date: Vaadin 10". www.businessinsider.com.
  10. ^ "Vaadin 14.0.0 release on GitHub". GitHub.
  11. ^ "A simpler release model | Vaadin". vaadin.com. Retrieved 2022-08-11.
  12. ^ "Vaadin 23 is finally here! | Vaadin". vaadin.com. Retrieved 2022-08-11.
  13. ^ "Training". Vaadin. Retrieved 2021-09-08.

Further reading

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