Foreword

When introducing Vaadin to a Java developer for the first time, I have often described it as the frontend framework for the backend developer. While this is an oversimplification, most people with little experience on the frontend tend to learn Vaadin quickly and are able to build beautiful web applications with it. I believe this is due to two distinctive properties of Vaadin: one can write the whole web application in server-side Java, and the user interface components look good and feature-rich by default.

If you feel at home writing server-side Java and working with databases, but get frustrated when building the user interface in JavaScript and HTML, this book is for you. Although you need to know the fundamentals of Vaadin, the book starts with the basic concepts and introduces everything you need to become productive at building a data-centric web applications. The approach in the book is practical, showing you by example how to solve the most common challenges and getting you ready for learning more as you go.

Alejandro Duarte would be a great guide for introducing any technology, and we are very fortunate that he joined the Vaadin team after publishing his first book on Vaadin. I hope this book inspires you to build amazing web apps in no time. For questions not discussed in this book, I invite you to join the friendly Vaadin community and share your experiences with other developers who are eager to guide you further.

Joonas Lehtinen

Founder and CEO of Vaadin